Devil Hunter Yang
by beefskellington
Summary: Bonding to a new arm after losing her old one, Yang Xiao Long finds herself lost in an another world, one filled with creatures far more terrifying than the Grimm could ever be. Taken in by the previous owner of the arm, a man named Nero, Yang learns the ropes of being another kind of hunter, using her new skills to hunt for the demon that took her away from her home.
1. Mission 0: One Hell of an Arm

**Just a thing that I wrote to get over my writing's block. As always, feedback appreciated. **

* * *

**RWBY (c) Rooster Teeth**

**Devil May Cry (c) Capcom**

**Spoiler warnings for both RWBY (at least post-Volume 3) and Devil May Cry 5.**

* * *

**Mission 0: One Hell of an Arm**

The stench of death filled Yang's nose. The screams of the dying filled her ears. Fire and shadows clung at the peripherals of her vision as she stared ahead at the man steadily walking towards her. A masked man with a dark suit-jacket and a sword by his side, his being marked by patterns of glowing red. A man whose very sight had locked every one of her muscles in fear.

_No no no…_

In her panic, she almost failed to notice the weight that formed around each of her arms. She looked down and saw that her trademark gauntlets, the Ember Celica, had materialized around her wrists. The sight of the weapons triggered a flight-or-fight response inside her mind. Without a second's hesitation, she set her gauntlets and lashed out with her fists, each jab in the air launching a shotgun like blast towards the figure.

"Get...get away from me!" Yang screamed. She stopped once she had let off no less than five shots. Her heart seized when she saw that the figure still continued to advance, the blasts doing nothing to halt his advance.

Panicked, Yang yelled and let off another shot. Or tried to, until she noticed the weight of the Ember Celica was gone...along with all feeling in her right arm. Her heart seized when she saw that her right shoulder ended in only a bandaged stump.

The memories came flooding back to her...memories she wished she could just tear out of her head. Her arm had been lost, severed by the man in front of her. The man known as Adam Taurus, the leader of the White Fang. The man that now stood only inches away from her face.

He grinned, his hand reaching for his sword. Yang knew nothing else she could do but to close her eyes and wait for the inevitable.

One second passed in silence. Then another, and another. It was on the fifth second that Yang decided to open her eyes again...to see Adam Taurus lying on the ground before her in a bloody mess.

The glow marking his body ceased. His clothes and face were drenched with his blood, his auburn hair thrown in disarray. A large black hole could be seen in the center of his chest. He wasn't completely dead, clinging to life as he spasmed and gurgled, causing blood to leak out the sides of his lips.

"What...what the-"

It was then that Yang noticed the feeling had returned to her right arm. Only... it felt off. Like it was an arm that didn't fit right. She also felt something wet and pulsating in its grip.

Her eyes fell on her right arm and saw that the empty stump was no longer empty. An arm had grown out of it, but it wasn't one that could have belonged to any human, or even a Faunus for that matter. It was a monstrous thing with razor nails, scales with texture like wood and a network of veins that gave off an unnatural blue glow.

And in its palm was the still-beating heart of Adam Taurus.

* * *

Yang awoke in cold sweat. Her immediate instinct was to check for her right arm. In a rare instance, she was relieved to see the twisted jacket sleeve covering her arm stump. Her chest heaved as she let out a relaxed sigh.

"Well, that was a new one."

She got up from under the large tree that she had inadvertently dozed off under and stretched under the sunlight peeking through the branches. She looked to the crisp blue skies hanging over the little piece of Patch that her family called home.

She had lost track of how many days, weeks, or even possibly months that had passed since _that _day. The day where she had lost a piece of herself, in more ways than one. The fall of Beacon was something that the world refused to let go lightly, with news channels across all four kingdoms giving periodic updates on the situation, even if there were no real progress made in either restoring the academy and bringing the ones responsible to justice. The constant reminders of the worst day of her life was why she find herself more and more outside in the stretch of forest just around her family's home.

Yang sighed. There was something she missed more than her arm. She missed the drive of her old self, of the girl with seemingly infinite spirits that was ready to take on the world and whatever it threw at her. Now, that girl seemed like a stranger, someone who may never come back.

Her heart ached at the thought.

_I...I wonder what the others are doing now. _

A bark drew Yang's attention away from the melancholy of her thoughts. She turned in time to see a small bundle of black, gray and white fur bouncing her way. She recognized the welcoming sight of Zwei, the family dog and one of the few things in her life that could cheer her up in her current predicament. The canine radiated joy like the rays of the sun and it was hard not to be infected by his energetic demeanor, which was why Yang found her lips curling into a smile against all odds.

"Hello Zwei," Yang said.

The dog barked, muffled by the object clamped in his mouth.

"Oh hey. What'chu you got there boy?"

Zwei dropped the object in his mouth at Yang's feet. Once she clearly saw what it was, her lilac eyes went wide and her heart skipped a few beats.

It was a severed arm. The _same_ arm from her dream.

"Holy-" Yang stumbled away from the limb, nearly tripping over the root of the tree as she stepped back. She eyed the limb with sheer disbelief. Every little detail was exactly like how she saw it in the dream, from the glowing veins to the wood-like textures and claws, its appearance only slightly different under a different light.

The ex-huntress-in-training stared at the limb for a good few seconds to make sure she wasn't seeing things, and then looked to Zwei. The dog was completely oblivious to the distress wrought upon his master by the thing he brought, his tail wagging happily.

"Zwei! What...how…where did you get this thing?"

"Bark!" Zwei responded. Yang didn't know what other answer she was expecting from a dog. She pinched her eyebrows.

"Zwei, you can't just be puttin' things like that inside your mouth! Who knows where it's been! For all we know, it could be infectious!"

Zwei tilted his head innocently at Yang.

Yang let out a sigh. She placed her hand on her hip and returned her attention back to the limb.

Her first thought was that it belonged to a Grimm, probably lopped off during a scuffle with a Huntsman or Huntress, but one thing prevented her from completely buying into that theory. The bodies of all Grimm had a tendency to evaporate into black dust when slain, with the same rule to any severed body part. It was the reason why very little is known of their actual physiology, and why taxidermies of the creatures were impossible to create besides fakes.

Then there was the glowing blue veins. No Grimm she could recall from her classes at Beacon had veins like that, since most of them were shadowy black with pale skulls.

But if the arm didn't belong to a Grimm, then what did it belong to?

_Would dad know a thing about this? Maybe I can ask when he comes back from running those errands. Or maybe this is something more up Professor Port's alley…_

Whatever the arm was, she couldn't just leave it out in the open. She looked around and found a branch she could use to safely poke the thing around. She broke the branch off and began prodding the thing. To her relief, it didn't twitch to life.

"Hey Zwei, next time you're thinking of bringing weird monster limbs back, ask first alright? We're gonna have to figure out what to even do with this thing now..."

Yang had expected a bark in response. Instead, she heard nothing.

"Zwei?"

She glanced away from the arm to see her dog pointing his head towards a group of trees in front of him. He was growling, his body was angled close to the ground in an aggressive stance.

"Zwei? What is it?"

A chill suddenly came over her. A tense dread that sent a shiver through her spine. The kind of dread that one can only experience whole trapped by a horde of ravenous Grimm with no weapons or allies.

Only the thing that walked out from behind the trees wasn't a Grimm.

It was a single man.

A stranger clad in a long, black trench coat with ragged coattails, his face completely cloaked by the shadows of his cowboy-style felt hat. He was tall and lanky, like a skeleton wearing clothes. The darkness seemed to cling to him wherever he moved, despite the sunlight shining down upon him. He looked as if he had been carved out of the shadows themselves. With every step he took, the spurs on his boots clanged.

"Zwei...stay back," Yang whispered. She had no idea who the man was, but she couldn't ignore the feeling in her gut that screamed the man was trouble, if he was even a man.

The stranger turned towards Yang, instantly putting her on edge. She clenched her fist tight and brought her elbow forward in a defensive gesture, one that looked incomplete and frankly pathetic with only one arm, her wrist feeling naked without her Ember Celica, left back at home. Zwei let out a warning bark at the man, as if the man was a Grimm himself.

And for some reason, Yang wasn't entirely unsure if Zwei was wrong.

The man yawned, and for a moment, she could've sworn she saw a red light in his throat that outlined a series of sharp teeth. He lazily scratched the back of his neck then turned his face towards the arm glowing just behind Yang's feet.

"Y'know, I've been scanning this backwater island on this backwater world for awhile now, lookin' for that arm," The stranger spoke, his voice low and raspy and marked by an accent that made him sound at home in an wild west gunslinger flick. He pointed a finger towards Yang. It was then she noticed that each of his fingers were covered by chrome rings that caught the sunlight. Rings shaped like gastly, toothy skulls, some lacking nostrils.

"My boss has a very keen interest in that arm, and the tremendous power swimming through its veins," The stranger showed his palm towards Yang. "I would appreciate it if you'd hand it to me, blondie."

Zwei snarled. The stranger shot the dog a look.

"Who...who the heck are you?" Yang said, hesitant to give the stranger anything until she learned of his intentions.

The stranger tipped his hat, flattening his palm against his chest. "Me? I'm Nothing. A nobody really. Always has been, always will be."

He lifted his hat.

"The same can't be said for the master I now serve. He's a somebody. A _very_ powerful somebody. A fella who always gets what he wants...a fella I wouldn't want to piss off," The stranger showed his palm again. "So again, I would appreciate it if you would hand over the arm blondie, preferably without resistance."

Yang glanced at him warily. _Well, now I know he's a nutjob. Just great._

She shot a sideways glance at Zwei, then at the arm. She still had no inkling what the arm was, but for some reason, she felt compelled to protect it. Because whatever the stranger wanted with it, her instincts told her it wasn't going to be good.

The stranger let out an annoyed sigh. "Look blondie. You either hand me that arm or I take yours instead."

The stranger looked up, and Yang saw for the first time what was beneath his hat. A pair of glowing red eyes, piercing through the veil of shadows cast by the brim of his hat. The sight of the eyes caused her to freeze, as they were the exact shade of red as the glow that could be seen on the man who took her arm.

"Considerin' it looks like someone else already took your other arm, you wouldn't want that now, would you?"

A dark aura flared around the stranger, twisting the very air around him. Yang thought she was stuck in another nightmare, but for some reason she wasn't waking up. She glanced back to the arm once more.

She had nothing to do with it. Why did she care if anything happened to it?

If giving it to the stranger meant he would leave, then she would have kicked it to him then and there.

Only...Zwei charging the stranger prevented her from doing that.

"Zwei!" Yang shouted as her dog lunged at the man with a speed and ferocity that belied his diminutive form. He launched himself like a furry cannonball, teeth bared towards the stranger. The stranger casually backhanded Zwei, swatting him away like a fly and sending him ricocheting off the trees. A pained yelp left the dog's throat as it crashed back into the dirt.

The sight of Zwei being hurt triggered something within Yang. She could feel her Aura flare, going from a calm flow to a crashing wave in response to her rapidly rising emotions. Her hair began to glow a fiery yellow as if each strand had been lit aflame. Her lilac eyes turned a vicious red.

She clenched her teeth. Her hand balled into a fist without her knowing.

She looked to the stranger as he shook his head.

"Stupid mutt-"

The stranger was struck in the face by a mighty left hook from Yang before he could finish. A hook backed by the strength of both her Semblance and rage.

"How dare you hurt Zwei!" She roared.

Most people, and even Grimm, would have buckled under such a mighty and well-placed blow. But as Yang looked up at the stranger, she saw that he didn't even so much as flinch, staring past Yang's fist on his cheek with a look of indifference in his lazy red eyes.

"Was that supposed to hurt?"

Yang's eyes went wide. _How-?_

She couldn't finish the thought before the stranger's hand lashed outward like a striking viper to find her throat. He moved like a blur and slammed her against a tree, causing the air to vomit out of her lungs. He raised her, causing her back to tear through the bark, causing her to wince in pain. She let out a wheeze as the Aura around her neck began to fizzle and crack as it strained against the stranger's tremendous strength. A strength that couldn't have belonged to any person...or even Grimm for that matter.

"Now, had I been still a Grimm, I'd imagine you'd take my damn jaw off with that hook," The stranger said calmly. He squeezed, causing Yang to let out a choking gasp. "But I ain't anymore. A Huntress brat like you can't ever hope to hurt the likes of me."

Yang managed to open one of her eyes through the pain. She gritted her teeth and willed herself to look at the stranger as he was strangling the life out of her.

"What...what the hell are you?"

The stranger tipped his hat, yet the shadows still smothered his features besides those piercing crimson eyes, making it impossible for Yang to see his face despite being so close.

"I already told you. I'm Nothing."

The stranger raised his other arm. He twitched his fingers, causing them to elongate and sprout into claws. If it was apparent he wasn't human before, then the claws certainly did it now.

"Now...don't go complainin' that I didn't warn ya. You refused to give me that arm, so now I'm going to take yours. I said I'd do that, didn't I?"

He raised the claw high, hooking them like scythes.

In that moment, Yang saw something else besides the stranger; she saw Adam Taurus in his place. Her mind forced her to see the White Fang leader's smirking face overlaid on the stranger's form, his raised sword aligning with the stranger's claws.

_No…_

The stranger brought his claw down.

_No no no…_

Adam brought his sword down.

_NO!_

Yang screamed.

And a loud deafening crack shook the world around her. A shockwave tore through the forest, shaking the leaves lose from their branches and branches from their trees. The wind pushed Yang against the tree. She fell, feeling the weight of the stranger's grasp no longer holding her in place. She gasped for the air that her lungs begged her for, breathing heavily as she felt her Aura fluctuate wildly. She opened her eyes in a distorted haze, her head light as she tried to stand.

"What...what just happened?"

In her daze, Yang realized there was something off. She felt her fist was clenched, but it wasn't her left fist that was clenched. It was her _right_ fist...the fist that she was supposed to have lost along with the arm it belonged to.

Her head turned slowly, until her right shoulder came into view, as well as the thing that was now attached to it. She saw the monstrous arm growing out of where her right arm stump used to be, her right sleeve shredded apart to make way for the inhuman limb.

"Holy crap!" Yang shouted. She fell on her rear, going slack-jawed at her new arm. It took her a moment to realize that the fingers were twitching because she was the one moving them. She could flex and feel through the arm, as if it was her own. She turned the limb around and saw the veins, which were no longer glowing blue but yellow. A fiery yellow like the color of her hair when her Semblance was activated, when she entered her berserk state.

But that wasn't the craziest thing, not by far. A _second_ arm was growing out of it, one made of spectral golden energy, sheathed in ghostly, petal-shaped scales and ending in massive clawed fingers. It was balled into a fist, positioned as if it had just finished giving someone an uppercut.

Which explained why the stranger wasn't here anymore. Yang looked in front of her and saw a wide path carved through the trees and dirt, as if a Bullhead had crashed through it, stretching miles away in front of her. On the very far end of the path, she could see a tiny black shape that she could barely make out as the slack of the stranger, his back slumped against a huge boulder, its surface marred by a sizeable crater-shaped crack that approximated the dimensions of his body. Miraculously, it seemed his hat was still on his head.

"Whoa," Yang whispered. She knew she was strong, but the punch delivered by her new arm made all of the punches she had ever landed in her life seem pathetic comparison, and that was including the one she used to wreck Roman Torchwick's stolen mech.

The ghost arm vanished back into the veins of the scaly one. She clenched its fist, feeling a power course through it, one that was a stark contrast to her Aura. A more primal power that she could feel tug at her more bestial urges...the urge to win a fight...the urge to completely dominate the opponent. If Aura was meant to protect, then whatever power she felt within the arm served to destroy.

She didn't dwell on the arm for too long before Zwei's cry brought her attention back to her dog. She shot a glance towards Zwei's curled, whimpering form next to a tree. She wasted no more time in running towards him, quickly bending down next to him to see if he was okay.

"Zwei! You alright boy?" Yang ran her still human hand over his fur. His body was shivering. Seeing the friendly canine reduced to such a state tugged at her heart strings, which made her relieved when the dog still had enough strength to lick her hand.

_This is insane. We have to get out here before he-_

She quickly glanced over her shoulder, to see the stranger was gone.

_Oh crap._

She scooped up Zwei's shaking form into her arms and made a beeline towards the direction of her family's home.

She didn't get far before a cacophony of inhuman shrieks swept over her.

**_"SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~!"_**

She dropped Zwei as every ounce of strength she had left escaped her body. Her legs buckled under her weight and caused her to collapse forward onto all fours. Her eyelids become heavy as a wave of exhaustion hit her like a truck.

_Why...why am I so tired?_

The screams came again, louder and closer this time, sapping Yang of any remaining willpower.

**_"SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~!"_**

She felt like passing out, as if she's lost a whole week of sleep. Her arms no longer had the strength to keep her up. She fell forward, her face tickled by the grass.

_So...tired…_

She remained conscious enough to hear the beating of wings overhead. A shadow fell over her, right as a pair of dark boots touched down on the ground just inches in front of her.

"Well well well…"

Yang, using what little strength she had left, forced her eyelids to open and to look up. She saw the stranger kneeling in front of her, his body giving way to horrific features, the most grotesque of which were the five deformed heads growing out of his chest. Each head was similar to the others, shaped like monstrous pale skulls with blackened chins, their gaping maws unhinged and packed with needle-like teeth. Their sockets were blank, and two out of the heads lacked the red slit-shaped nostrils of the others. They grew out of the stranger's torso like writhing, tumorous growths.

On the stranger's back had sprouted a pair of leathery, bony, bat-like wings, their membranes frayed and chewed around the edges as if they were in a permanent state of rotting. Their base grew out of the stranger's coat, as if the coat was part of his body.

"Not gonna lie, that was one hell of a hook," The stranger stroked his chin, popping it in place. "But I expect nothing less, considerin' that arm is powered by the bloodline of the great Dark Knight himself."

Yang's eyes fluttered as she fought to keep them open. She tried to move, but her muscles refused to respond, each feeling as if an iron weight had been tethered to their fibers. The stranger's power, if it could even be called a Semblance, was drawing her closer to darkness by the second.

"You probably have no clue who I'm talkin' about, do you girlie? No one in this world knows who the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda is. Shame really, since he could single-handedly end the war between the Grimm and your kind if he didn't kick the bucket."

The skulls around the stranger's chest retracted back into him, his wings vanishing into his back. He reached into his coat and pulled out a cigarette, putting it in his unseen mouth. He breathed a ring of smoke into the sky, which took the form of a gaunt skull before disappearing.

"I can't believe it though. Of all the things that arm has decided to take as its host, it decided on you, a mere _child_."

The stranger blew a ring of smoke towards Yang, filling her nose with its rancid odor.

"You don't deserve the power of the Devil Bringer."

Yang's hand grabbed a handful of grass. The veins on her monster arm flashed as she tried to break free of whatever hex the stranger put her under. The power from the arm began to course through her veins, and that was when she noticed something peculiar; it was being amped up by her Aura, giving her the strength to steadily resist the stranger's power.

The stranger glanced down at what looked like a watch. He flattened his palm against his hat.

"Ah crap. I've been here too long. If I stay any longer, my demonic power is definitely bound to attract every Grimm from every corner of this forest. I can't have that now, since the boss told me to keep a low profile."

He flicked the cigarette away, then snapped his fingers, the sound echoing throughout the forest. The space behind him began to distort into a spiral, before shattering away like glass to reveal a circular, swirling abyss.

Yang's eyes went agape at the portal.

The stranger stood up in front of the portal, his coat and hat flapping from the otherworldly wind that came from within it.

"It's been a bash blondie, but this is where we part our ways," The stranger said. He raised his hand, lengthening his fingers into claws once more. "But I ain't leaving without that arm."

Yang's demon arm curled into a fist. She could feel the heat rise within her as her hair started glowing. Her eyes flashed red, this time bleeding light like the stranger's eyes. Her body became flushed with power, more power than she ever had.

A voice echoed in her mind, one that was not her own.

"_Power...power..."_

Her veins became hot, though not from her Semblance. She became possessed, as if by a demon.

"_I need POWER!_"

Her voice took on a demonic inflection that she never knew she was capable of.

"**Go screw yourself!**"

She rose and lashed out with her new arm, catching the stranger off-guard. His red eyes visibly enlarged as she materialized and launched a phantom limb towards him, its oversized knuckle crashing into his torso. The stranger let out a mutter of surprise as he was sent hurtling towards the portal.

"So long jerk!" Yang yelled, though a bit too soon. The stranger's hand snapped out and grabbed a hold of the spectral arm's wrist, yanking Yang off her feet and towards the portal with him.

"If I ain't taking that arm in Remnant, then I guess I'm takin' you with me!"

Yang tried to pull back but it was too late. The portal was like a vacuum, its pull impossible to fight against. The wind made it hard for her to breath, the golden hair flattening against her face making it difficult to see.

The thing she could see was a dark shape darting past the peripherals of her vision. It was Zwei, who bolted past Yang without her even realizing it. Like a furry comet, he collided into the stranger, sending all three of them tumbling into the portal.

* * *

**August 3rd, 3:45 PM - 2 months after the Red Grave City incident**

"You sure this is the place Nico?" A man with white hair said. He leaned back in the passenger's seat of a gaudy looking van that doubled as a miniature RV, its side emblazoned with an unlit neon sign that spelled out a single phrase:

**DEVIL MAY CRY**

The black-haired woman in the driver's seat wrinkled her nose at the man, raising an eyebrow behind her glasses. Her less-than-modest crop top and denim shorts revealed the tattoos etched across parts of her body.

"What? You don't trust my tips?" The woman, Nico, said in a very noticeable Southern drawl. "Look asshole, the guy that told us about this place was the same guy that led me to you."

The man, Nero, rolled his eyes. He sat up on his seat. "So he's the guy I have to thank for havin' to put up with all of your crap."

"You bet your ass he is," Nico replied. "And considerin' he was able to lead me to you, I bet his claims about this place bein' a secret hideout for some nasty demons to be right on the money."

Nero raised an eyebrow. He glanced towards the building just in front of them. "You seriously tellin' me this bar is a demon hideout?"

It didn't even look like a good bar, more like one of those back alley watering holes that only the most unsavory of individuals frequented. A place where the beer was sub-par, the mugs barely cleaned and the cockroaches were the most prevalent form of life. Only four of the letters of the bar's neon lights were lit, spelling out the name of the joint: **GOAT'S HORN BAR. **

The side of the bar looked worse, its brick walls smothered by graffiti, one of which depicted a lazily drawn pentagram with a stylized goat's head inside it.

"What? You don't believe demons like to get drunk once in a while? If I lived in Hell, I'd prolly would get wasted every waking moment I could get."

Nero shook his head. He grabbed his Red Queen, his trademark sword, from behind his seat and got out. He flapped his coat in the wind and checked that his custom magnum, the Blue Rose, was in working condition.

"Alright Nico. Let's see if your friend was right about this place."

He took a step, when Nico rolled down the window and called after him.

"Hold your horses! Aren't you forgettin' somethin'?"

Nero turned around right as Nico tossed him a mechanical arm, which he caught like a professional baseball player snatching a ball. Its sleek shape was defined in vibrant hues of silver and blue, with its segmented fingers encased in gold metal. He could feel the power within its strange alloy. An alloy born from the unholy union of human science and demonic flesh.

"You forgot your helpin' hand bozo," Nico smirked. "I didn't work day and night on that just to see it not bein' used for kickin' the teeth of demons in, ya hear me?"

Nero studied the hand, turning it around and up and over. "Nico, this just looks like the Overture."

Nico scoffed. "It's Overture Mark II wise-ass, or just Overture II for short. It may look like the original but I made some tweaks to its inner design. It now has some new tricks it can do."

Nero bounced the arm in his hand. Then he looked at his other arm, one that he had regained after awakening the demonic heritage within him. With a thought, the arm dematerialized in pieces of blue energy, becoming an empty stump. He placed the Overture II into it, which fit snuggly. Once connected, he flexed and clenched its fingers, its movements responding to his neural inputs without the slightest delay.

"Alright, I'll take it for a test run," Nero said. He didn't have to use Nico's Devil Breakers now that he had regained the arm he had lost, but he'd be lying if using them didn't make fighting demons even more fun than it already was.

"Have fun in there, but don't do anythin' that I wouldn't," Nico said. She slipped in a cigarette and blew a wreath of smoke that a stray wind kicked to Nero.

The devil hunter frowned and tried to brush the smell of smoke away, though it didn't bother him as much as it used to. Having worked together for months now, he was getting used to Nico's habits, though it still annoyed him.

"Yeah, I'll be out in five." Nero turned to the bar. With Red Queen on his back, Blue Rose by his side and Overture II attached to his arm, he walked into the bar, his blue coat flapping behind him.

Nico smirked as she watched Nero enter the bar with his intentional cool-guy swagger that really wasn't fooling anyone. "Show-off."

She leaned in her seat and took another puff of her cigarette, before putting it out on the dash tray besides her. With nothing to do until Nero finishes slaying whatever demon was inside, she turned on the radio to fill her time while the devil hunter went to business.

She flicked through several channels, ranging the gamut from news on the latest celebrity scandals to a plug for the Order's sermons, to music stations that played the same song over and over again. Nothing really piqued her interest, until she landed on a channel giving a very peculiar news report.

_...sightings of a strange, wolf-like beast continue to be reported throughout Dumary Island. Locals continue to blame the creature for the disappearances of thirty people..._

Nico recognized the name. She's heard of the island, as well as the multinational company that built a massive tower there to serve as its headquarters before the whole thing went bankrupt, almost overnight. Coincidentally, she also heard a rumor that Dante, the Legendary Devil Hunter, was doing business on that island around the time the company's CEO vanished.

Before she could ponder the thought, a massive form crashed through the wall of the bar. She jolted in her seat. She inched forward and stared out ahead at the monster that was standing before her.

"What the hell?"

The beast was around eight feet tall or so and had the body of a muscular man but had the head of a goat with massive, twisting horns, along with clawed hands and bent, hooved feet. Parts of its body was covered in course brown hair, while the parts that weren't were vile green in color. On its back could be seen a pair of folded, leathery wings.

Nico has heard of such a creature before based on the research notes she managed to gather from the Order, the fanatical religious order that her asshole of a father belonged to before he shuffled off his mortal coils. A member of the Goat Clan if she wasn't mistaken.

The beast lumbered around the empty lot in front of the bar in a daze. He shook dust from his head, before he saw Nico and began charging at her van.

"Aw shit," Nico cursed under her breath. She was about to kick the ignition on the van to avoid the rampaging goat-man, when the beast lurched forward and fell onto the pavement, which cracked under the creature's weight. In its back was the long, heated form of Red Queen.

Nico rolled down the window, in time to see Nero strolling casually out of the hole the Goatling made. He walked over and put Overture II on the handle of the Red Queen, sending waves of electricity down towards the Goatling pinned underneath it, causing the creature to howl in pain. It was one of the new features Nico designed into Overture II: the ability for Nero to charge weapons with its powerful shocks.

The devil hunter looked up from the demon and smiled at Nico, giving her a thumbs up with his other hand.

"Looks like Overture II passes quality control!"

"Yeah, of course it would dumbass," Nico smiled back. "All of my Devil Breakers are pieces of art!"

Nero chuckled. The Goat let out groans of pain and crawled an inch forward, its claws leaving marks along the ground. The motion didn't escape the devil hunter's notice. He revved the Red Queen's handle, causing it to roar like a motorcycle as its blade became heated, sending more pain the Goatling's way. The demon bellowed and shrieked as its back burned from the blade's Exceed system being unleashed upon it.

The creature then elbowed the blade away and knocked Nero back with a kick from one of its hooved feet. The devil hunter crashed into another section of the bar's wall, creating a crater where he landed. Nico winced for him.

The Goatling stood up, its breathing haggard. It eyed Nero, who got up as well, then raised a clawed hand in the air. The space within his palm flickered and distorted, before a ball of energy appeared, fanning out into the shape of a weapon.

A massive falchion, the sight of which caused Nico to sit forward on her seat.

It was one of the prettiest dang swords she had ever seen, and she had seen a lot. Its flat blade was divided into visible sections, covered in patterns that looked like glowing crimson circuitry. Its handle was unusually complex and had various cybernetic contraptions built into it, more so than even Nero's Red Queen. As a weapon maker herself, Nico could tell the craftsmanship put into the weapon. It nearly made her drool.

"Whoa…"

The Goatling swung the blade in the air, causing its sections to detach and unfold. The hilt began to click and fold, giving away to a trigger and stock. Nico found herself, against her better judgement, being amazed at the transformed weapon of Nero's enemy, which now took the form of a rifle.

The weapon-smith fought the urge to squeal.

* * *

The peculiarity of the weapon was not lost on Nero.

"Hey, did your sword just turn into a gun?" The devil hunter stroked his chin and grinned at the demon. "That's pretty neat. Mind tellin' me where can I get something like that?"

The Goatling snarled. He aimed his sword-rifle towards Nero, letting off several shots of infernal energy towards the devil hunter.

A smirk appeared on Nero's lips. He moved faster than the shots, sliding out of the way of each one and causing them to strike the side of the bar, making more holes in its already crumbling walls. He pulled out Blue Rose, his hand moving in a blur as fired a shot that tore through the air, striking the creature right on the shoulder, causing the beast's aim to go off.

The Goatling growled and took a step back. Nero saw his opening and rushed forward, instantly closing the distance between him and the demon. The demon's sword immediately clicked back into its falchion form. Its metal shimmered with demonic energy as the creature swung it downwards at Nero.

Nero's smile remained on his face. He grabbed the blade with his Overture II, keeping it place as he pressed Blue Rose into the Goatling's stomach, pumping it full of shots. Blood and guts flew as the bullets pushed against the demon with so much force that its hooves began to leave the ground. It howled in agony as it was pushed into the air by the barrage of demonically-empowered magnum shots.

Nero wrenched the Devil Arm away and in one swift motion that was nearly too quick for human eyes to follow, a blue spectral arm appeared behind him, grabbing Red Queen off his back and sending its sharp end right into the Goatling's torso. The limb of demonic energy threw the sword, sending the demon flying along with it into the alleyway wall right behind him.

The demon went slack, its body pinned limp against the wall. A repose of silence settled into the empty lot around the bar, broken by the sounds of the bar crumbling into itself from the punishment it took. As the building fell, it kicked up dust from behind Nero, causing his coat and hair to flap.

The spectral arm vanished from Nero as he re-holstered Blue Rose. He held the demon's sword in his hand, eyeing its design. He held it to Nico, who he noticed couldn't take her eyes off it during the entire fight.

"Hey Nico, guess I should have never doubted your informant. Looks like we found one of those black market Devil Arms we've been hearing about."

Nico rolled down the window. "Yeah and it's a thing of beauty! So be careful not to leave any damn fingerprints on it!"

"Yeah yeah, whatever," Nero replied. He walked forward, sword in hand, and saw that the Goatling had awoken and still had some fight in it. It snarled, clawing wildly at Red Queen stuck in his torso in a vain attempt to push it out of itself.

"Here pal, let's trade," Nero said, moments before he stabbed the Devil Arm into the Goatling while yanking out his Red Queen at the same time. The demon screamed. Its glowing yellow eyes, lacking any discernible pupils, narrowed at the devil hunter.

"Fuck you, you human piece of shit!"

Nero grinned. He swung the Red Queen in the empty air, shaking all of the blood off it before sheathing it onto his back. "Oh, it speaks! And here I thought you were just another dumb demon who can't string two words together."

He grabbed the handle of the Devil Arm, then pushed it just an inch further. The demon growled, gnashing its sharp teeth in pain.

"Now listen here goat-head. I'm not gonna ask again. I want you to answer my question," Nero stared right into the Goatling's eyes as his fingers tightened around the Devil Arm's handle. "I want to know where you got this Devil Arm, since I don't think a low-ranking demon like you could ever get a weapon like this otherwise."

The Goatling looked at Nero, its brow furrowing. Nero matched the monster's grimace with one of his own.

"Me and my business partner have been trying to find out whose the one behind all of these Devil Arms flooding the black market. I have a feeling you know more than you're letting on pal."

The Goatling regarded Nero for a tense moment. Then, in spite of his mortal injuries, his mouth curled into a sinister, bloody smile.

"The demon...the demon responsible for this Devil Arm...is far beyond the likes of you, devil hunter."

Nero raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so it's another demon? Shoulda known."

"Don't take my words lightly, devil hunter," The Goatling spat. "This demon isn't like other demons. He doesn't come from around these parts."

"Of course he doesn't come from these parts. No demon does. This is the Human World pal, or did you forget?"

The Goatling hissed through his teeth. "That's...that's not what I mean human. This demon...he's not from the Demon World either!"

Nero raised his brow. The demon wasn't making any sense. "What? What do you mean this demon doesn't come from the Demon World? It's in the damn name."

The Goatling's chest began to heave and push rapidly as a series of labored chuckles left his throat.

"Your guess is as good as mine, human. Word is that this demon comes from another realm completely separate from both your world and mine."

It lifted the head away from the alleyway, its eyes widening at Nero. "it is said this demon...comes from a world with a broken moon."

Nero's grip lightened on the sword. He stood forward to meet the demon's gaze. "What the hell are you talking about?"

The Goatling returned Nero's gaze. "If you really want to find out human...the demon's name is the Weapon-Maker. But if I were you, I wouldn't go try looking for him...for you will regret it!"

Before Nero could say anymore, the Goatling let out a roar and pushed his torso through the blade towards Nero, claws bared at the devil hunter. It stopped as Nero flicked out Blue Rose and pressed it barrel against its skull before it get off a swipe on him.

He pulled the trigger. A loud bang echoed throughout the empty lot. Then silence. The demon gained a hole in his head, then he was no more.

Nero retrieved the falchion from the wall, the demon's body having evaporated into fiery particles. He looked at the Goatling's Devil Arm, balancing it in his arm. He could feel the unnatural power coursing through it, resonating with the demonic power flowing through his own veins. He looked back to the spot where the demon had died, to the cut made into the wall where his Red Queen had cleaved into the brickwork.

_The Weapon-Maker huh? Weird name for a demon. Sounds like something out of a cheesy comic book._

Nero tore his eye away from the wall and twirled Blue Rose in true gunslinger fashion before placing it back into his holster.

_First Sanctus, then Urizen, and now this Weapon-Maker guy. Looks like a devil hunter always has his work cut out for him. _

The devil hunter turned to Nico, waltzing towards the van with the Devil Arm held over his shoulder. Once he neared, he saw Nico giving him a look.

"Really? The second I tell you not to get it dirty with your fingerprints, you decide to get nasty demon blood all over it?"

Nero shrugged. "But I didn't get my fingerprints on it, right?"

Nico rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just get in."

Once Nero got in, he plopped the Devil Arm in the couch that sat within the van's back. It clattered against the seat.

"Hey hey hey! Careful! That there sword is a true work of art! Don't just be throwin' it around like any ol' piece of junk!"

Nero waved Nico off. "Relax. A Devil Arm doesn't break that easily. You should know that."

He placed Red Queen in the spot behind his seat meant for the blade, then plopped himself down on the passenger's seat. He winced, once the stench of cigarette smoke hit him face on. He looked and saw that Nico had a freshly lit cigarette in between her lips. It was a wonder she hasn't succumbed to lung cancer yet. Perhaps she had demon blood in her too.

Nico blew a puff before taking it out of her mouth. Nero coughed, then tried to wave the smell away to little effect.

"So...I didn't quite catch what the Goat-head told ya before it kicked the bucket. Anything interesting?"

Nero plopped his feet against the dashboard. He leaned back with his hands placed behind his head.

"It gave me a name," Nero turned to Nico. "The Weapon-Maker."

"The Weapon-Maker?" Nico raised an eyebrow. "Is that the name of some comic book superhero that I ain't aware of?"

"Heh, that's what I thought too," Nero replied. "But no, that's the name of the demon supposedly responsible for all the Devil Arms that's been flooding the black market as of late."

The devil hunter thumbed towards the Devil Arm behind them. "Including that beauty."

"Huh," Nico shot a glance at the weapon. "Anything else?"

"Goat-head apparently claims this demon is special. Says he didn't come from the Demon World but somewhere else, if you can believe it."

"Well that's a new one. Aren't all demons supposed to come from the Demon World? It's in the na-"

"In the name, I know," Nero leaned forward, staring into the empty lot in front of him and the ruined remains of the bar. "The demon claimed the Weapon-Maker is from a separate place. A place with a 'broken moon', wherever the hell that is."

He removed the Overture II, his flesh arm returning once it disconnected. He placed the Devil Breaker gently on the dashboard in front of him.

"A demon that sells Devil Arms and doesn't come from the Demon World," Nico puffed on her cigarette. "Well doesn't this Weapon-Maker guy sound like a curious fella."

"Yeah," Nero replied. "Hopefully we can find out more about this guy. Maybe Morrison will know somethi-"

Nero was interrupted as something crashed onto the front of the van, rolling off it and causing both Nero and Nico to jolt.

"What the hell was that?" Nico yelled, spitting out her cigarette.

Nero grabbed his Red Queen. He slowly propped the door open and stepped out, unsure of what he was going to find. He walked out towards the front of the van, his thoughts immediately turning to the possibility that the Goatling had a demon buddy hiding in the shadows, waiting to attack.

Instead, it wasn't a demon that he saw but something he actually hadn't expected. Namely, an unconscious girl what looked to be a sleeping dog curled up on her chest.

"What...the hell?" A slack-jawed Nero said.

Based on the softness of her features, the girl couldn't have been older than seventeen or eighteen. She had a glorious mane of blonde hair, dulled and marred by dirt and leaves as if she had come from the woods. Her jacket and tank top bore a plethora of cuts and bruises, her pale skin the same. She looked remarkably peaceful in her slumber, despite the banged up shape she was in. The dog also looked just as hurt, its soft body slowly heaving with its steady breaths. Around its neck was a collar with a bell attached to it, indicating it belonged to someone, presumably the girl.

Nero scratched his head.

_Who the hell are these guys...Dorothy and Toto?_

Something glowing beside the girl caught Nero's eye. It was obscured by the dog's sleeping form, so he had to walk to the other side to see what it was.

When he did, he thought his mind was playing tricks on him.

He couldn't believe his eyes. He was staring at the Devil Bringer...his _old _arm. Only, it wasn't his arm but the girl's, attached to the ripped end of her jacket sleeve. The scales and claws were as how he remembered it, though perhaps more slender to match the girl's physique. Then there was its veins, which glowed a faint, flickering yellow instead of blue like the Devil Bringer he was familiar with.

And yet, despite the alterations to its appearance, Nero could _feel_ it was his old arm, the one he had lost to a father he never knew he had. He could feel the strange energies within pulling him towards it. He kneeled down to get a closer at the arm and felt the pull get stronger. Gently picking the hand up, he felt its energy pulsating lightly against his skin, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to tingle.

_The demonic energy inside this arm...it's the Devil Bringer alright. But there's something else within it, and it ain't demonic energy. _

Nero turned to look at the girl once more. "Just who are you, blondie?"

The sounds of Nico closing the car door and walking up towards reached his ears. Her shadow fell upon him.

"Hey wise-guy, didn't you hear me talkin'? What is-"

She paused as she saw the girl and the dog. She didn't say anything for a couple of seconds, presumably to let her mind register what she was seeing. Either that or to allow herself enough time to prepare a snarky comment at Nero's expense.

"First Lady and now her," Nico crossed her arms. "Are you like a magnet for unconscious women or somethin'?"

She scrunched her nose. "Well, at least she's clothed this time. And you get an adorable li'l puppy as a bonus."

"The dog isn't the only thing she's got," Nero whispered, glancing over his shoulder to Nico. "She's got my old arm too."

Nico's eyebrow raised above her glasses. "What? What the hell are you yammerin' about?"

Nero raised the girl's Devil Bringer to show Nico. The weaponsmith's mouth fell open. She blinked several times.

"...Oh."

"Yeah," Nero let out a humorless chuckle. "I know right?"

* * *

A pair of predatory red eyes surveyed the group from above. Eyes belonging to the stranger, who stood on a nearby rooftop. He eyed the curious man with the snow-white hair and the sword on his back, and the strange tattooed woman he was with. However, he didn't care about them. He only cared about the girl with the dog on her chest and the demonic glowing arm that had now become a part of her.

His attention shifted back to the man with the sword. He tipped his hat, upon recognizing who the man was.

_Well call me a sack of Nevermore shit...didn't think the arm would cross the paths of its original owner so quickly. _

The stranger licked his sharp teeth. _The Devil Hunter Nero...said to be the one to have stopped the Savior in Fortuna. The one to have walked out of Redgrave when the legendary Dante didn't, back when the whole place was going to shit faster than a Boarbatusk on Dust. _

He turned away from the group and walked into the shadows, sheathing his clawed hands inside the pockets of his torn coat.

"You got lucky this time, Huntress brat," The stranger murmured under his breath. "But you ain't on Remnant anymore...and let me tell ya, the monsters of _this_ world make the worst of Grimm look like harmless li'l kittens in comparison."

The stranger jumped, a pair of wings sprouting from his back to take him into the night sky. As he flew, a thought wormed its way into the stranger's head.

_The Weapon-Maker is definitely not goin' to like this._

**-Mission Complete-**

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

So, as explained at the top, I wrote this thing on a whim, based on an idea that has been lingering in my head for a while. Basically, its an entire fic revolving around the premise "What if Yang from RWBY, post-Volume 3, gained the Devil Bringer from Devil May Cry as her new arm?". The idea kinda grew from there into this weird isekai story about love, family and utterly ridiculous fights and weaponry. This is my first time putting it in words, mainly, as explained, to get over my writer's block. Suffice to say, it worked.

If people want more of this, I'll probably alternate updates between this and my other main ongoing fic, Spirited Gangstar.

As a side note, to anyone reading this, work has got me in chains again. I'll try to update whenever I can, but those moments will be few and far in between given work commitments until (*knocks on wood*) the end of June. I also got my own original novel finally going, so I'm also trying to allocate time between all of my writing projects.

Thank you for your understanding.

Best,  
Beef


	2. Mission 0-1: Not in Remnant Anymore

**Since the first chapter got a pretty positive reception and a lot of people wanted this to continue, here's another chapter out! Hope you enjoy, and again feedback is always welcome.**

* * *

**RWBY (c) Rooster Teeth**

**Devil May Cry (c) Capcom**

* * *

**Mission 0.1: Not in Remnant Anymore**

When Yang opened her eyes, she saw the familiar, grandiose interior of Beacon Academy's main library.

Everything within the library was as how she remembered it, from the towering shelves that were taller than the average Ursa to the desks that she and the rest of team RWBY would use to play quick rounds of their little card game between classes.

Shaking the haze from her mind, she was quick to note that was in her black and red Beacon student's outfit. Weird thing was, she couldn't remember ever putting it on. In fact, she couldn't remember why she was in the library in the first place.

"Huh...must've dozed off. What was I doing again?"

Her mind drew a blank at that question, so she decided to look around for any clues as to why she was in the library of her own volition without anyone else around. After all, she wasn't exactly the most bookish of people. That distinction belonged to Blake.

Speaking of which...she sighted a familiar figure out of the corner of her eye.

Blake Belladonna was to her immediate right, standing in front of one of the shelves. The Faunus girl was instantly recognizable for her long, wavy raven hair that trailed nearly to her waist and the large ribbon on her head, just big enough to disguise her feline ears. She too was in her student attire as she flipped through a rather thick and old looking tome, her back turned to Yang. Whatever she was reading, she was obviously too enthralled in its contents to have noticed her teammate and friend right behind her.

"Oh, hey Blake."

Blake nudged her head to the side, slightly enough so that her face still couldn't be seen.

"Hello Yang."

There was something odd about the way Blake spoke. It was unusually toneless, lifeless even.

Yet, Yang thought nothing of it. She knew her friend could be the most aloof at times. She scratched her head and yawned before standing up from the table to do some quick stretches.

"Say Blake, you remember why we're here? Darndest thing is...I can't."

Blake didn't answer. Yang could hear her turn a few pages. That was when she got the slightest hint something was off.

"Uh...Blake?" Yang said. Again, the Faunus girl didn't say anything. She continued to flip through the book, her unseen eyes glued to whatever was inside.

"Gee. What is it that you're reading that's so interesting?"

Blake slammed the book shut. A circle of dust flew from within its folds. She tucked it beneath her arm.

"It's called the Lesser Key of Solomon."

Yang placed both of her hands on the back of her head and sauntered nonchalantly towards Blake, a smirk on her lips. "Huh. Never heard of it. Must be a real page-turner, seeing how you haven't looked up once from the thing."

Blake turned, enough for Yang to see corners of a smile, her eyes cloaked by the shadows beneath her hair.

Yang frowned. "Hey, you okay? You're acting kind of-"

A dark blur shot towards Yang. Her natural fighter's reflexes kicked in, causing her knees to subconsciously bend to avoid whatever the blur was, which missed her by inches, nearly sheering away a strand of her precious blonde hair in the process.

Yang quickly jumped back, almost toppling over the desk she had just been sleeping on a few seconds ago. She saw the thing that had attacked her clearly now, being a long dark tendril, its end filed into a harpoon-like point with serrated edges. The base of the tendril was connected to a pool of shifting darkness right where Blake had been standing. As for the Faunus girl herself, she had vanished, leaving only her book behind. A book whose cover was graced by a single symbol: a large pentagram drawn within a large red circle.

Yang warily eyed the tendril, which waved in the air like a Death Stalker's tail, poised to strike.

_What...what the hell is that thing? _

The tendril retracted within the darkness as a mass began to grow outward from it, its surface rippling and undulating like a breathing, living organism. Out of it came a fully realized body, one with a sinuous, streamlined torso situated on four muscular limbs ending in claws. It sprouted a long feline-tail.

Yang had expected to see the pale, bony mask-like face of a Grimm when the creature retrieved its head from the dark muck. Instead, she saw something far more horrifying.

She saw Blake's face instead, her features twisted into a monstrous state. Her mouth was stretched past her cheeks, baring a pair of saber teeth. Her eyes were glowing and completely yellow with no discernable pupils or irises. A quarter of her face had cracked away like porcelain, revealing an oily substance underneath that dripped onto the floor, merging with the shadow cast by her monstrous, cat-shaped body.

"Blake!?" Yang nervously took a step back. "What...what the hell!?"

Monster-Blake licked a paw and purred. She eyed Yang, her eyes glinting with a predatory hunger as she slammed a claw down upon the book beside her, tearing through its bindings and pages.

"What's the matter Yang?" Monster-Blake hissed, her voice taking on a monstrous, second echo to match her terrifying new appearance. Her back began to shift uncontrollably, forming chaotic shapes out of her shadowy flesh. "You don't like my new look?"

The monster crawled forward. Yang stepped away, her back pushing against a shelf, causing a book to fall against her shoulder.

"Come on Yang, being a _demon_ ain't all that bad," Monster-Blake purred. She licked her rows of sharpened teeth. She blinked her eyes, though her eyelids came out sideways. "I mean...don't you want to be one too?"

The creature arched her back, shooting out long spears that formed from her shadowy flesh. Yang ducked, causing the spears to impale and destroy the book shelf behind her. Scattered pages, bindings and chunks of wood drizzled down across the peripherals of Yang's vision as she made a run for between the adjacent shelves, her terror-induced adrenaline granting her an increased speed.

Monster-Blake yelled after her. "_Where do you think you're going, Yang Xiao Long!?"_

Yang could hear the demonic feline crashing through the shelves behind her as she ran into the central space of the library. She didn't dare take a glance back, fearful that she would see Monster-Blake not far behind.

_That was no Grimm...it had freakin' Blake's face! And it could talk! Just what the hell is going on!?_

In her panic, Yang nearly ran into a figure that stood in front of her. A young woman with hair as white as snow, tied in a lengthy ponytail. She stopped, recognizing who the person was.

_Weiss?_

The Schnee heiress, like Blake before she went full jungle cat, stood with her back to Yang. The white-haired girl remained as still as a marionette, not saying a word.

"Weiss! I'm so glad you're here!" Yang grabbed Weiss's shoulders and shook. "There's a monster chasin' me! And...and it has Blake's face! I know it sounds absolutely insane, but we need to get out of here! We need to-"

Yang felt an icy chill run down her fingers. She realized that the icy chill was coming from Weiss. Her skin felt hard and cold...just like ice.

"She's not a monster Yang," Weiss whispered, her very breath causing the room temperature to drop. "She's a demon like me."

Weiss turned her head. She had no face.

Yang felt her heart nearly cease as she stared into the smooth, bony plate that had become of Weiss's face, its only feature being a scar right over the side where Weiss's scar would have been. A scare that was glowing red like the eye of certain Grimm. She gasped and fell on her back, retreating from the faceless Weiss.

"W-Weiss...what happened to you?"

Faceless-Weiss placed her hands on her hips in a haughty manner that was perfectly befitting of the normal Weiss, which only made the creature's appearance more eerie. She spoke with a voice just like Weiss's, despite having no mouth, though it carried a faint echo. Waves of cold vapor drifted off her shoulders.

"What happened to me? I became a demon like Blake!" Faceless-Weiss fanned her arms wide. "And I could never be happier!"

Faceless-Weiss took an elegant step forward, prompting Yang to crawl back, her arms trembling as she did so.

"A demon? What...what the hell are you talking about?"

Face-less Weiss reared her head back to let out a series of cackling laughter.

"Why don't I show you Yang?"

The creature hunched over, grabbing at her sides as if she was in pain. A split appeared down her back, causing a form began to erupt out of it like a molting insect. Yang wanted to tear her eyes away from the grotesque sight but found that she couldn't, her body becoming rigid as a creature more horrific than Monster-Blake stepped out of the scrap of skin that had formerly been Weiss Schnee.

A creature that was part reptile and part ice. It stood on two bent legs like a Beowulf, its leathery hide giving way to jagged ice armor that approximated the shape of a dress...Weiss's. On one hand was a series of three massive icicles that were shaped into sword-sized claws, the other brandishing a makeshift shield made entirely of ice. Its sleek, lizard-like head lacked any features except for the scar...and Weiss's hair.

The beast smashed its tail into the floor behind it, creating a crack.

"See? Isn't this amazing?" Monster-Weiss brought her icicle claws against her face, pretending to lick it in spite lacking an oral orifice of any sort.

"What the hell do you mean this is amazing!?" Yang shouted back. "What the hell are you even!?"

Monster-Weiss crossed her arms. Edges of frost can be seen lifting from her outline with her every movement.

"Weren't you paying attention? I told you, I'm a demon," Monster-Weiss pointed her icy claws towards Yang. "Why don't you join us..._Yang_?"

Before Yang could say or do anything, Monster-Weiss jumped into the air. The beast launched herself towards Yang, the latter quickly rolling out of the way before she could land on her. The monster's clawed feet crashed down, leaving two feet-shaped craters where Yang's hand had been.

Yang quickly stumbled to her feet and bolted towards the door. Monster-Weiss yelled from behind.

"_Come on Yang! Why do you refuse to become a demon like me or Blake? We're supposed to be a team, remember!"_

Yang's brain couldn't even register the words. Her mind had only one thing on its mind, and that was to escape whatever hellish nightmare she was currently trapped in.

_First Blake and now Weiss. Am...am I losing my damn mind?_

She looked ahead and saw the door right in front of her. A welcomed sense of relief washed over her, instantly dashed away when she saw a person blocking her exit.

A girl with cropped black hair ending in red tips, clad in a black dress and a red cape, holding a large scythe. The sight of the girl stopped Yang in her tracks.

"Ruby?"

Her sister's eyes were cloaked in shadow just like Blake's had been. She smiled. "Hello sister, how are you doing?"

"How am I doing? _How am I doing_?" Yang pointed frantically behind her. "Something crazy is going on sis! Blake turned into this...this jungle cat made of darkness! And Weiss is some sort of icy lizard woman with no face! We're in danger, we have to get out here!"

Yang took a look at Ruby, and then froze. Her sister's smile wasn't her sister's. It wasn't the innocent, bubbly kind of smile that was expected of Ruby Rose, but a malicious grin seething with a clear intent to kill.

"Ruby…" Yang whispered her sister's name.

Ruby said nothing. She didn't even look up.

"...Ruby?"

Without warning, her sister swung her scythe at her. Yang barely managed to jump back as the scythe sliced through the stomach of her student's uniform. She looked at the cut, then stared with frightened eyes at Ruby. Her sister's body jerked unnaturally, as if each of her joints were being controlled like a puppet's.

"Ruby...what's wrong with you?"

Ruby tilted her head upwards, causing the shadows to lift. Yang saw her sister's face, and had to stifle a scream.

A skull. Her sister's face had become a _skull_. Empty sockets, as black as a starless night, had taken the place of her trademark silver eyes. She gnashed her crooked teeth, which were fully exposed through her lip-less mouth.

"Hey sister, why so pale? You look like you've seen a Geist."

Monster-Ruby walked towards Yang, and with every step a monstrous transformation steadily took hold. Her limbs elongated until they were slender and thin like bones, her back becoming hunched like a frail old man's. She was no longer her beloved sister, but a tall, gaunt corpse that wore her sister's clothes and hair and had her voice. A monster more horrifying than any Grimm could ever be.

Yang trembled as she saw Monster-Ruby present her scythe, which wasn't Crescent Rose but a more primitive instrument of death, its blade cover in rusted blood.

"Come on Yang! Being a demon is fun! You'll love it!"

Yang kept walking back as Monster-Ruby shambled forward.

"As a demon, you can kill anything in your path! Grimm and Huntsman alike!" Monster-Ruby raked her scythe across the library floor, causing sparks to fly. "Doesn't that sound awesome? _Nothing could stand in your way!_"

Yang turned to run, only to see Monster-Blake and Monster-Weiss standing behind her. A series of tendrils had formed from Monster-Blake's shadowy form, each ending in a differently shaped blade arched back to impale. Monster-Weiss left a trail of frost everywhere she stepped, her icicle claws poised in front of her.

The three abominations closed in, causing the feeling to drain from every inch of Yang's body.

_This...this can't be happening..._

"Hey Yang…" Monster-Ruby whispered from behind Yang. Her voice sounded _too_ close, as if she was only inches behind. She could feel the hot breath of the beast masquerading as her sister against her hair. A breath that stank of decay.

"...If you won't join us. Then you're just **dead weight**."

Yang turned her head around, in time to see Monster-Ruby swing her scythe towards her face.

* * *

Yang blinked awake. She sat up in an unfamiliar bed and rubbed her pounding forehead.

_Another strange nightmare. Guess I'm not running out of those anytime soon._

Yang had to put that thought on hold, as she saw what arm she had been rubbing her forehead with. An arm that was covered in scales and glowing yellow veins.

"Oh…"

Yang stared blankly at the arm, silent for a moment until her brain finally caught up.

"OH!"

She tensed. The sighed of the arm brought the fight in the forest back into her mind, of the stranger that attacked her and Zwei. She remembered now that it wasn't a dream but something that actually happened, as ridiculous as the whole thing seemed. The only thing she couldn't remember was what happened right after she was hurled into the portal created by the snapping of the stranger's fingers.

Wherever it had taken her, it wasn't an alien realm as she had expected. Instead, she was in what looked remarkably just like an ordinary bedroom, though it wasn't hers. It was more sparse in its amenities, consisting of a desk, a dresser, a chair and barely anything else. A single, simple-looking chandelier was the sole source of lighting in the room. There was only a single window, partially open to let in a gentle breeze that caused the white satin curtains to lightly flutter.

Yang turned her attention from her new surroundings to herself. She was under the covers of a bed that didn't quite feel like hers, being a bit too soft. As for her clothes, no longer was she in her tank top and jacket. Instead, she wore a loose, white t-shirt that clearly wasn't hers, being a size too big and being something she would never wear, considering it was designed with the black silhouette of a curvaceous woman brandishing what looked like two pistols. She could feel a pair of loose-fit exercise pants around her legs.

_Okay...I'm in a stranger's clothes, in a stranger's bedroom. Totally not weird._

Yang glanced down at her arm.

_Alright, maybe not as weird as this thing._

Finding no reason to stay in bed any longer, Yang got out to explore her surroundings. She felt sore, though if her scuffle with the stranger wasn't a dream, then she was surprised there weren't more aches plaguing her body given the absolute throttling he gave her.

It was when she recalled said stranger that she had remembered something else that was important.

_Zwei! He was there with me when the stranger attacked, and he was badly hurt! I need to find him, need to make sure he's-_

A recognizable bark interrupted her thoughts. She looked over her shoulder, her eyes lighting up as they fell upon a familiar face standing in the open doorway of the room, his tail thumping the ground.

"Zwei!"

The dog was upon Yang in an instant, leaping into her arms and assaulting her with a flurry of doggy kisses.

"Whoa easy boy! Glad to see you're okay too."

A weight had lifted off Yang's chest. She recalled how badly hurt Zwei had been when the stranger attacked them, and was relieved to see that her dog had recovered, not really caring to question how he did so. All she cared was that he was safe and mostly unhurt. And if the dog's frantic licking was any indication to go by, he was just as happy to see Yang as she was to see him.

"Good to see you awake, Dorothy."

Zwei stopped licking. Yang looked past Zwei to see who the owner of the voice was, her eyes finding their way to a man leaning on the doorway, his arms crossed. His short hair was white like Weiss's, his attire including a dark blue, very fashionable trench coat. He was relatively handsome, with strong features and a square jawline accentuated by his rather fit build.

From his appearance, Yang immediately pegged him as a Huntsman. He certainly had the physique and confident air of one.

Zwei bounced off Yang's arms. He walked up to the man and let out a friendly bark. The man smiled and bent down, giving Zwei a good scratch behind the ears, causing the canine to wag his tail. Any doubts that the man had ill-intent towards Yang was gone from her thoughts, as Zwei wouldn't have acted so warmly to him if that were the case. Her dog was a very good judge of character.

"So...you guys got a name? Don't exactly want to keep callin' you Dorothy and Toto, unless of course those coincidentally _are_ your names."

Yang took a delayed moment in realizing the man was talking to her, the man's reference completely flying over her head0. She cleared her throat.

"Um...the name is Yang. Yang Xiao Long," Yang twerked her head towards Zwei. "He's Zwei."

The man rose from Zwei and looked to Yang, scanning her once over with a perplexed look on his face. "Y'know, that wasn't exactly the name I was expecting."

"Oh? And what name were you expecting?"

The man scratched his head. "Dunno. I'm just sayin' you don't like a Yang Xiao Long. You don't look Chinese."

Again, the man's words were lost on Yang.

"What's a...Chinese?"

The man shot Yang a confused look. "Hey, you suffering from a concussion or something?"

"No. I'm not," A slightly annoyed Yang said. "I just can't make sense of what you're saying."

The Ex-Huntress-in-Training crossed her arms. "Since I gave you my name, how about you give me yours pal?"

The man preened the collar of his coat. "The name is Nero. Long story short, I'm the one that found you and your dog."

The man, Nero, pointed towards Yang. "And I'm very curious about how you got that arm."

Yang followed the man's finger and saw that he was referring directly to her newly acquired monster limb. She nervously hid it behind her back, not wanting to show it off to the world when she herself was still a bit terrified of the thing.

"Oh, no need to hide it," Nero said. "I ain't afraid of the thing, if that's what you're thinking. I'm more than familiar with that arm."

Yang's eyes lit up. "You do?"

"Of course," Nero grinned. "After all, that is my old arm."

Had Yang drank any water, she would've done a spit-take. She held up her new arm to Nero.

"Sorry...did you just say that this is your _old arm_?"

"Yes I did," Nero raised his right arm and flexed it. It looked completely human, which only made his claims more nonsensical than it already was. "That arm used to belong to me…" The man let out a sigh "...Before _family issues_ caused me to lose it. I thought it to be destroyed, so you can imagine how surprised I was when I find you, with the Devil Bringer attached to your shoulder as if it was your own."

Yang blinked at the man.

"That doesn't make any sense. You clearly have two arms."

Nero tucked his arm back. "It's a long story. But trust me when I say that arm used to belong to me."

"Right…" Yang couldn't tell if the man was lying to her or not, or just simply crazy. Still, he was the first human contact she had, and even if the answers he was giving was hard to believe, they were at least answers. She rang her other hand down the scales of her new one. "You called this...the Devil Bringer?"

"Yes I did," Nero replied. "It's so named that way because it makes it easier to throttle demons, if you catch my drift."

Yang raised an eyebrow.

"By your confused face, you probably don't know what the hell I'm talkin' about. After all, demons are a pretty niche topic."

"No, I understand," Yang replied. "You're talking about Grimm aren't you?"

She figured the man had to be talking about the Grimm when referring to demons, because there was nothing else in the world horrible enough to be worthy of the term. She did find it strange that the man only called them demons and not by their actual name, something no one really did.

Nero wrinkled his nose. "Is that what you call them? Never heard them being referred to that as before. Kinda catchy tho."

The man shrugged. "But hey, call them what you want, I don't care. I just want to know how you got my arm in the first place kiddo. That's not something anyone can just walk into a store and get."

Yang looked to her monster arm, the thing the man referred to as the Devil Bringer. Her mind went back to what transpired in the forest just outside of her home in Patch. Like a hazy, passing dream, she couldn't remember all of the exact details, but there was some that were quite unforgettable.

Zwei walked to Yang's side. She leaned down and gave him a rub on the head, looking into his beady eyes as she recollected the sequence of unbelievable events that led her to the present.

"Zwei here is the one that found it. It was just laying around in the forest near our home. And after that I was attacked by a man."

Nero creased his brow. "A man?"

"Yeah, a man. Though...I don't think he was human. I don't know what he was," Yang showed her new arm. "I just know he wanted this arm."

"I see," Nero said quietly. "What he look like?"

"I...it's kind of hard to describe, but he first appeared as a shady man in a hat. But he had these red eyes and...and…"

Yang swallowed as she thought back to the stranger's most horrific features. Features her mind was struggling to believe she actually saw.

"He could grow wings on his back. And a bunch of screaming faces from his chest."

Nero looked sternly at Yang in silence as she finished recounting her story. He didn't seem shocked or disbelieving of what she was telling him. Rather, he looked concerned, as if he's dealt with such craziness before.

"Sounds like a demon to me."

"What?" Yang's eyes widened slightly. "You know what that man was?"

"Well, I haven't met this guy personally, but based on the picture you're painting of him...yeah, I'd say he's a demon."

Yang stared quietly at the man for a few seconds.

"When you said demon earlier...you aren't talking about the Grimm, were you?"

Nero shot Yang a look. "Is this 'grim' thing you're talking about something other than a demon? Because I thought demons were the only things around that had glowing red eyes and wings."

"Hold on, you don't know what the Grimm are?" Yang never thought she'd met someone that was unfamiliar with the Grimm. The very notion was as impossible as the moon becoming whole. "How the hell do you not know what the Grimm are? You must be living under a rock pal, and a really big one at that! You'd have to be not from Remnant to not know what a Grimm is!"

Nero rubbed his clean-shaven chin. "Remnant. Is that a world with a broken moon by any chance?"

Yang was taken off guard by the man's question. "I'm...I'm sorry? I don't know what you're asking."

"This world you call Remnant. Does it have a broken moon?"

Yang smirked. Now she was certain the man was insane in the head. Just her luck to be in the care of a genuine nut job. "What, you mean like the one that you see every night?" She pointed to the window, through which she noted was dark out. "Like the one that's probably hanging over our heads now if you look up into the sky?"

Nero paused. He studied Yang with renewed curiosity, then he looked to the window. "Kid, I don't know how to break it to you, but you won't find a broken moon out there."

Yang tilted her head like a confused puppy. "What?"

Nero thumbed to the window. "Why don't you go see for yourself?"

A perplexed Yang did as she was told. When she looked out the window, she saw a sprawling city with a skyline cluttered with castle-tops and massive spires as grandiose as the ones belonging to Beacon. In between the castles were smaller buildings that had a Gothic architectural feel to them which clashed with the city's more modern elements, including neon signs that advertised bars and restaurants, the cars parked on the roads and the streetlights scattered throughout the area.

Night had fallen over the city as expected, the skies dotted with stars along with a single, full moon.

A moon that was completely whole.

Yang's jaw threatened to plummet through the floor the moment her eyes landed on that perfect sphere hanging in the sky. She could hear Zwei give a confused "Aroo?" as he clumsily clambered onto the window sill to look at the same thing Yang was seeing: a moon that was most definitely not Remnant's.

And she thought the arm would be the most insane part of her current predicament. She had thought the man had been speaking crazy, until she saw the skies for herself. She hadn't lost her mind yet, but this nearly did it.

Both girl and dog traded glances with each other.

"Looks like we're not in Remnant anymore, Zwei," Yang whispered to her dog.

Nero made a fake cough, drawing attention back to him.

"By your reaction, I guess I was right on the money. That you're from another world."

Yang stared at Nero as if he had just pulled a Goliath out of his pocket. A million questions threatened to overcrowd her brain, and she tried to ask them all at once, causing her words to come out in confused stutters as she pointed to the window with her eyes stretched wide.

"T-the moon...h-how...why...w-what..."

Nero held up both his hands. "Alright, easy kid. Don't break your brain by thinkin' about this too hard."

He nudged his head towards the doorway.

"Look, Kyrie is getting dinner ready. How about we talk more about this over a warm, home cooked meal? Figure you could use one."

Yang had so many things she wanted to ask the man, but she was distracted from doing so by the growling of her stomach.

Food sounded good about now.

* * *

**Unknown Location - 6:35 PM**

Nothing awoke with a yawn. He shook the grogginess from his head and realized he had fallen asleep upright. A glance down to his chest revealed the reason why.

There was a sword impaled into through his heart, pinning him to the steel wall behind him. It wasn't a normal blade, shaped to resemble the black wing of some monstrous bird, the feathers made of an obsidian alloy instead of keratin.

He could sense that the feathers themselves were imbued with demonic energy, giving away the nature of its owner.

"Huh," Nothing murmured. He fixed his hat, which he was relieved was still on his head. He saw his impalement as only a minor inconvenience, for something as simple as being stabbed through the chest might've killed what he was before, but not what he was now.

The scent of perfume drew the stranger's attention to the darkness of the wide, spacious chamber around him. A perfume that he recognized, along with the woman's voice that called out.

"Had a nice nap, Nothing?"

Nothing popped his neck. He spoke into the darkness. "I did, until I awoke to find one of your feather blades stuck through me, Caim."

A light turned on, revealing the owner of the voice standing just to the right. A woman with an alluring figure and a face that belonged on a fashion magazine cover. She was dressed in a low-cut purple dress suit, its collar unique in that it was lined in black feathers. Her black hair was done in a neat bob cut, with a laurel wreath of feathers pinned to the bangs.

She looked at Nothing with black eyes surrounded by thick layers of eye shadow, glaring at him like a hawk that has found her prey. She sauntered over with a hand on her swaying hips.

Nothing tipped his hat. "So, you gonna remove this damn thing? It's beginning to itch."

Caim ignored his request. She slapped Nothing across the face hard enough that he nearly felt his vertebrae crack. And yet, his hat still remained on.

"I know you don't really care about anything, but how could you have messed this up? How could you fail in retrieving the Devil Bringer? Our master needed that arm to complete his plans you _apathetic _bastard!"

Nothing twisted his back. He met Caim's intense gaze with a sleepy one, his black eyelids fluttering over his red eyes. "Hey. Ain't my fault it got attached to a Huntress gal."

Caim's eyes widened. "What?"

"Ya heard me. Damn thing got stuck on some girl with blonde hair and curious eyes that can turn from lilac to red. I could tell she was a Huntress, cuz I knew a Semblance when I see one. She and her damn mutt caught me off guard and tackled all of us back into this world, where she ended up being discovered by that Devil Hunter Nero, if ya can believe it."

Caim's eyes widened further. Her pupils dilated. "Did you just say...the Devil Hunter Nero?"

Nothing nodded nonchalantly. "Yes ma'am."

Caim's beautiful features twisted in rage. Her eyes began to glow yellow.

"So let me get this straight...not only did you fail to bring back the Devil Bringer...it's now attached to a damn _Huntress_. A Huntress now in the company of the _original owner of that arm_? The very same Nero who was a former knight of the Order of the Sword and one of the few Devil Hunters to have walked of the chaos at Red Grave right as the Qliphoth collapsed?"

Nothing's eyes darted slowly right and left. Then he nodded. "Yeah. Sounds about right."

Caim shrieked like an eagle. She raised her hand and caused another wing-shaped blade to form out of dark particles materializing in her palm. She held it high, despite it being as long as she was tall.

She was stopped by a powerful voice that echoed through the darkness.

"Caim, enough."

Caim stopped the blade just inches from Nothing, the latter not being phased in the slightest despite the weapon's tip nearly scraping his bony forehead. Her eyes went from yellow back to black as the feather burst into a cloud of black feathers that vanished into smoke. Behind her was another cone of light that had turned on, spilling onto the back of a large figure sitting on the ground. The light did nothing to ward away the shadows clinging to his body, making only his silhouette visible. His outline was far too imposing and jagged to belong to a human. His shoulders shaped like spiked pauldrons, his head giving way to several pairs of jagged horns that came together to form a crown. A cape fluttered off his shoulders, made of shadow instead of cloth, dancing in the air of its own volition as there was no wind in the chamber. He filed away at what looked like to be a sword in his hand, causing sparks to fly and the sound of scratching metal to fill the chamber.

"Oh, hey Weapon-Maker," Nothing said to the figure. "How's it goin'?"

Caim snarled at Nothing for his indifferent tone. The Weapon-Maker continued to work without turning to look at Nothing or Caim.

"There's just one thing I'm not entirely clear on from your story, Nothing," The Weapon-Maker said. His tone was kept low and gentle, yet one could feel the power resonate from each syllable as he spoke. His tone was accentuated by a robotic inflection, as if his vocal cords were more machine than flesh. "How exactly did the arm attach itself to this Huntress?"

Nothing mulled over the Weapon-Maker's query for a second, before shrugging. "Beats me. One moment I was choking the living shit of her. The next, a big ass glowing fist sent me flyin' a coupla meters away," He fixed his hat to hide his eyes. "That bitch slap of hers nearly killed me."

Caim twisted her head towards Nothing, her brow furrowed in fury, her eyes burning red again. "She knows how to _use it_?"

Nothing turned to Caim. "I mean, it's an arm. How can you not know how to use an arm? Especially one attached to you?" He raised a leg. "It's like saying I don't know how to use my own legs."

Caim growled at him.

"Enough you two."

The Weapon-Maker rose onto his feet. At his maximum height, he neared around eight feet tall. Counting his crown, he was closer to eight and a half. He turned, revealing more of his silhouette. Most of his details were still obscured by the shadows, but sections of white and gold armor could be seen clinging to the edges of his outline where the light touched. Pulsating red circuitry lines could be seen all across his imposing body.

A single red eye was tucked near the center of his unseen face, glowing like Nothing's with a complex demonic rune filling up most of its iris. The crimson light of the eye washed over the magnificent broadsword in his mighty hand, which looked closer to a dainty fencer's blade when scaled with his size. The sword vanished, absorbed back into the palm of its wielder.

"The Devil Bringer bonding itself to a Huntress is unexpected, just as unexpected as the arm falling into Remnant, the old country. Even more unbelievable would be original owner of the arm discovering said Huntress. But that does little to change our plans, for the fact remains the same; the power of Sparda's bloodline is one of the ingredients required make my 'master piece'. A Devil Arm to surpass all other Devil Arms."

Nothing sighed. His breathed caused icy droplets to form in the air in front of him. "So you want me to hunt this girl down, get the arm back, and risk having to tangle with this Nero fella? Sounds like a drag, to be honest."

Caim shot a murderous glare at Nothing. "You dare deny the master's wishes? You insolent-"

The Weapon-Maker stopped Caim with a simple raising of his hand.

"No. I have a better idea."

The Weapon-Maker waved his hand. A suitcase appeared in his hand, one of an unusually cybernetic design, thicker than normal and covered in circuits. On the center of the lid was a mask with a single eye.

"Knights of the former Order, extremists still loyal to Sanctus, are interested in purchasing the Devil Arms stored in this case. They desire the Devil Arms to see the Order restored to its former glory through sheer might and intimidation. I have been negotiating with them for a price, but I believe we can use their desires to our advantage."

The Weapon-Maker plopped the case on the ground, then slid it towards Caim with his armored foot.

"Caim, I want you to meet with them. Tell them that they can get those Devil Arms at a significant discount...if they put them to good use."

Caim looked at the case, then at the Weapon-Maker. "Master?"

The Weapon-Maker's eye narrowed. "These extremists see Nero as a traitor to the Order. They blame him as a reason for Sanctus's downfall. They see the Devil Hunter as public enemy number one, and wouldn't hesitate to eliminate him first, as he's the greatest threat to the Order's resurgence."

He pointed to the case. "I am fully aware they plan to use my Devil Arms to assassinate Nero. Simply request that they also capture any blonde-haired girl with a demonic arm that they see with him and bring her to us, so they may get these weapons at half price."

The creature waltzed forward, every one of his steps pounding the ground like hammers. Once he neared, his massive build was made all the more apparent. He absolutely dwarfed Caim, and the moment his shadow fell over her, the woman visibly buckled under his gaze.

"Can I trust you with that task, Caim of the Bloodstained Feathers?"

Caim went down on her knee, bowing her head low. "Yes, master. I will see to it that it gets done."

She rose and took the briefcase. She gave a venomous look towards Nothing, before vanishing into a cloud of feathers along with the cache of Devil Arms.

The Weapon-Maker then turned his single eye towards Nothing. Any other being would've feared him, but Nothing only stared blankly into space, letting off another yawn.

"As for you, Nothing, I got another task for you."

Nothing groaned and begrudgingly turned to his boss. He just got back from a mission. He was too tired to do another one, even if he admittedly failed the first.

"Can it wait?"

The Weapon-Maker crossed his massive arms, his limbs making distinct gear-churning sounds as they moved. "No, it can't."

With a flick of his wrist, a newspaper appeared in his grip almost as if by magic. He held it towards Nothing, close enough so he could see the headline:

**SIGHTINGS OF MYSTERIOUS WOLF-LIKE BEAST ON DUMARY ISLAND CONTINUE TO PLAGUE LOCALS AS DISAPPEARANCES CONTINUE**

The article that sat beneath it had a blurry, grainy photo of what looked to be a black shape running through a cluttered forest. A shape that visibly ran on all fours, with a streak of red trailing from where its eyes would be.

"You remember dear Marchosias, don't you?" The Weapon-Maker murmured.

Nothing scratched his head. "He's the little Beowulf cub, ain't he?"

"Yes, that is correct," The Weapon-Maker replied. He flicked his wrist once more, causing the newspaper to vanish. "Only the cub has grown into a deranged serial killer ever since he Ascended."

The Weapon-Maker slowly walked away from Nothing, his hands tucked behind his back.

"He's been flaunting his newfound powers as a demon, using them to get away with his killings. Indulging in his appetites with the knowledge that nothing could stop him, using his new home on Dumary Island as his personal hunting grounds."

The Weapon-Maker turned his head towards Nothing so his red eye could be seen. "His..._feeding habits_...have been attracting unwanted media attention. He risks exposing our kind to the world. He's stepped out of his bounds, forgets that although there are no Huntsman or Huntresses in this realm, there are still the Devil Hunters, who are arguably worse."

Nothing let out an annoyed sigh. He grabbed Caim's blade and wrenched it out of his body, letting him land on the floor with his feet. He broke the blade with his clawed hands and then tossed each half away into the darkness. He looked to the Weapon-Maker with his droopy eyes.

"I'll take care of him boss. Don't you worry."

The Weapon-Maker's eye upturned, as if he was smiling. "You don't have to kill him. Just strike enough fear into his heart so that he would never risk engaging in such foolishness ever again."

Nothing craned his neck. He so did not want to do this right now. He just wanted to go back to sleep.

"Now then..." The Weapon-Maker turned away and paced towards the other end of the chamber, summoning a large magic circle in front of him, one made of red energy. Inside the circle was a complex arrangement of patterns that formed a glyph, one that was recognizable by Nothing as his master's personal symbol. The Weapon-Maker walked in, only for a man in a fancy white suit to walk out the other end, stepping into another cone of light that materialized. The circle vanished, and the Weapon-Maker turned around in his human form, his human face remaining cloaked in shadow like his demonic form's, though the glowing red eye remained on his forehead. It blinked as he fixed his tie.

"I got a business meeting to attend to, shareholders to please," The Weapon-Maker said, his voice now matching that of an normal adult human male. "Hope you enjoy your trip to Dumary Island, Mr. Nothing."

The Weapon-Maker then vanished in another red glyph, causing the cone of light to shut off with no longer a subject to shine on.

Nothing fixed his hat. He pulled out a cigar and blew a puff.

"What a pain in the ass."

Wings grew out of his back, lifting him up into the shadows where he vanished.

With everyone gone, all lights went on in the chamber, illuminating the symbol that took up the entire floor. A symbol resembling an outline of a cube with three lines jutting from a few of its corners that ended in unfilled circles.

Beneath the cube spelled out a name in big, block letters:

**MERLOT INDUSTRIES**

**-Building a better tomorrow-**

* * *

**Dumary Island - 11:50 PM**

A lone woman stood beneath a flickering streetlight. Her provocative way of dress did not provide protection against the elements, but it was the closest thing to work attire she had. She was a mistress of the night after all.

She flicked through the wad of dollar bills in her hand, money that she knew was not for her to keep.

She stopped counting when she felt a chill down her spine, one that did not result from a stray breeze slipping down her exposed back. It was a kind of chill brought on by fear, by one's instinct that a predator was nearby.

She turned and saw a man standing in the alleyway behind her. He wore a ragged, crimson cloak, its hood obscuring his face.

The woman instinctively reached for the gun she had in her purse, a necessity in her line of work.

"Hey pal, you see somethin' you like?"

The man offered no words in response. Instead, he smiled, the whites of his shiny, unusually big teeth flashing through his hood. The corners of his grin stretched nearly to where his ears should be.

The woman wasn't afraid of the man. See one scumbag, you've seen them all. Plus, she had her gun, and no man was immune to bullets.

To show she wasn't intimidated, she decided to mock the man.

"Gee, what big teeth you have."

The woman blinked, and then the hooded man was gone.

A large hand grabbed her from behind. A hand with black fur and sharp claws. Before she could even manage a scream, she was forced around, coming face to face with the hooded man. Up close, she could see the horrible visage peeking out beneath the hood.

A bone-pale visage with glowing yellow eyes and rows of razor teeth packed into a skeletal, exaggerated wolf-like snout. On its forehead was a red circle with complex patterns within, like the kind seen in the demonic rituals performed by those crazy cultist loons the woman has read about in the news.

The man...the _creature_...stretched its mouth into a wide grin, one too wide to have been managed by a human face. It ran its tongue over its teeth, drenching them thick in saliva. It opened its mouth and uttered words in a tone of voice that was too deep to be made by the vocal cords of a regular man. A voice tainted by a low, growling demonic echo.

"**All the better to **_**eat**_ **you with, my dear!**"

The monster unhinged its jaw.

The woman thought she was in a nightmare as she stared down at the creature's throat, the red light coming from within washing upon her terrified face.

It's just unfortunate that she'll never wake up.

-**Mission Complete-**

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Not too much action in this one. Just a lot of set up for later story points.

I did have a little too much fun writing the nightmare sequence in the beginning, especially with its references to certain Devil May Cry enemies.

Hope you guys enjoy!

Best,  
Beef


	3. Mission 0-2: The Devil Hunter's Family

**So sorry for the significant delay on this one.**

**As explained in a note on my other fic, I've not only been busy and stressed with work, but also am in the middle of several interviews to find a better job. I didn't exactly have time to write given the things going on, but by some miracle I was able to complete this chapter which had been sitting on my computer for a while now. **

**Anyways, given the situation, my updates will come slowly during my job search and will pick up once I have landed a new job, preferably one with much better hours than my current one. I will keep you guys posted. **

**In the meantime, hope you enjoy the latest chapter! Additional author's notes at the bottom of the chapter.**

* * *

**RWBY (c) Rooster Teeth**

**Devil May Cry (c) Capcom**

**Spoiler warnings for both RWBY (at least post-Volume 3) and Devil May Cry 5.**

* * *

**Mission 0.2: The Devil Hunter's Family**

The sight of an alien moon did little to dissuade Yang's appetite.

With a desire for food on her mind, she and Zwei followed Nero as he led them through a hallway, hopefully towards the sustenance he had promised. Along the way, they passed three bedrooms, their doors slightly open to grant a view of the messy beds and decorations within. Each room was filled with stuff like toys and crude crayon sketches pinned to the walls, giving the impression that they might have belonged to children.

Yang's hunger subsided a bit as they walked, enough for her head to clear to ask a question that's been scratching at her mind ever since she looked out the window.

"So, are we just going to ignore the fact that the moon is seriously messed up?"

Nero glanced back at Yang. "Messed up? Don't know what you mean kid."

Yang was kind of taken aback by the man's answer."I mean...it's not _shattered_. That's not right."

Nero shrugged. "Sounds like there's nothing wrong with it to me. I'd be more concerned if I was living under a moon that _was_ broken."

Yang chuckled humorlessly at the man's response, then fell silent.

"We're...we're really not in Remnant, are we?"

"Dunno where this Remnant place is you keep talkin' about," Nero smirked. "But I'm gonna answer 'yes'."

Yang ignored Nero's joke. She was too preoccupied with the thought that she wasn't just far from home...she wasn't even in the same world anymore. How was such a thing possible?

Her surroundings didn't make it seem like she was on an alien world, and she would have thought Nero was crazy or fibbing her, if it weren't for her seeing the moon with her own two eyes. Even if she had her scroll with her, she would have been too bewildered to properly snap a picture to prove she wasn't seeing things. So much crazy in such a short period of time.

"Okay...so if I'm not in Remnant, then where the hell am I?"

"The Human World," Nero answered. "Also known as Earth. Admittedly, doesn't have as nice of a ring to it as what you call your world."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "The Human World? Seriously?

Nero nodded.

"That's...rather on the nose."

"You're tellin' me kid, but I guess it fits. It's the place where we humans live after all."

"But we have humans in Remnant too and we don't call it that. Do you guys only have humans in your world?"

Nero scoffed. "No, don't be ridiculous. If there was nothing _but _humans around, then I'd be _really _concerned about what Kyrie is makin' for supper. We call it that because we're neighbors to the Demon World, which is where the demons live."

Yang's eyes sparked with curiosity. She recalled back to what Nero told her when she first awoke, remembering the word he used to refer to the red-eyed stranger. The creature responsible for her current predicament.

"That man..._thing_ who attacked me...you called him a demon right?"

"I did," Nero's expression darkened. "And don't let this spook you, but there's more of them out there. A whole world of them I'm afraid."

Yang wanted to press the man further, but didn't get a chance too before she was hit by the savory aroma of a home cooked dinner as she stepped into a modest dining room.

Her eyes immediately fell upon the long wooden table that was the centerpiece of the room, and the piles of mouth-watering food spread out neatly across its plain tablecloth. She made an inventory of all the fare available, which included plates of roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, ears of corn, a rather large ham and serving bowls of steaming creamy red soup which was probably a tomato bisque.

A woman was standing over the table, counting the silverware quietly. She was the classical definition of beautiful, with the dictionary definition of fair skin and auburn hair as smooth as silk cropped at chin length. She was dressed in a modest white flowery top and a long black skirt that went down all the way to her ankles. She didn't wear much jewelry, except for a necklace around her neck, its centerpiece resembling two pairs of golden wings wrapped around a long red crystal, one spread and one folded to each other to form a T-shape.

Nero smiled. "Smells heavenly as usual Kyrie."

The woman looked up at Nero with hazel eyes.

"Oh! Nero! Just in time! Supper is just about ready."

Yang noticed that Nero's expression and toned softened in the presence of the woman.

Before the man could say anything else, three kids rushed into the room. They brushed past Yang and playfully tackled Nero with sufficient vigor to cause him to buckle.

"Hey Nero!" They all chirped in near perfect unison.

Nero turned at the children and chuckled heartily. "Hey hey hey! Easy there kiddos. I haven't been tackled like that since I met my old man."

Yang noticed the boys were of varying ages, with the youngest around five while the oldest was just short of his teens, around twelve or thirteen. She would have thought them to be Nero's kids, if it weren't for the fact that they didn't really look much like him, or the woman called Kyrie.

The oldest boy looked up.

"Hey Nero, when are you going to teach me how to be a badass Devil Hunter like you? I'm still waiting."

Nero scruffled the boy's hair. "We'll talk when you start bringing home more A's from school. Deal?"

The boy crossed his arms and puffed his cheeks, clearly disappointed by Nero's answer.

Then, all eyes suddenly shifted to Yang. She wasn't prepared to be the object and attention and ended up standing awkwardly for a few seconds before she realized that her new arm was exposed for all of them to see. She quickly hid it behind herself, but she was certain they had already gotten an eyeful.

To her surprise, none of them really screamed or showed any shock beyond expressions of mild surprise. Not the response typically expected from people that just saw a demon arm.

Nero cleared his throat. "This is Yang everyone. She isn't from around here, so I'd like everyone to try to make her feel at home as best as they can."

The youngest and second youngest boys waved at her.

The oldest, Julio, only continued to stare at Yang. Specifically, his eyes lingered towards the arm she tried vainly to hide.

"Oh cool! She has the same kind of arm you used to have! Is she part demon like you too?"

Yang bristled, not because the boy was referring to her arm, but because of what he said.

_Did he just say Nero...was part demon?_

Nero lightly squeezed Julio's shoulder. "Hey, don't spook her with all this demon talk. There's not many demons from where she's from."

Julio looked away and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry."

Nero looked to Yang. "Sorry about that. He gets excited whenever there's talk of demons. Me and Kyrie are tryin' our best to rid his brain of his interest in the supernatural and putting him towards math and science."

He slapped Julio lightly on the shoulder.

"But anyways, I'm rambling. Yang, I'd like you to meet the kids."

He nodded towards the youngest. "Carlo."

Then the middle child. "Kyle."

Finally, Julio. "And this is Julio."

"Sup," Julio whispered.

Nero then smiled towards Kyrie. "And that angel right there is Kyrie. My girlfriend."

Kyrie smiled warmly and did a courteous bow. "Nice to meet you Yang. I'm glad you're awake. We were so worried about you when Nero first brought you in."

Yang's lips slowly curled into a sheepish smile. "Um...nice to meet you all too."

Zwei barked.

"Oh right, and the dog's name is Zwei," Nero told the kids.

"Zwei?" Julio frowned. "Dang. So that means we can't call him Cerberus no more?"

Yang raised an eyebrow. _Cerberus?_

"He's Yang's dog, so you guys gotta call him Zwei. Besides, he doesn't even have three heads. Name wouldn't make sense anyway."

Julio pondered the thought, then nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I guess that makes sense."

"Wait," Yang blinked. "You guys have three headed dogs in your world?"

"Not usually," Nero replied, only confusing Yang further. He glanced around the room, as if looking for someone. "Say, where's the biggest kid in the house at?"

"Oh, you mean Nico?" Kyrie said. "She's in the workshop, tinkering with that strange transforming sword you brought in on your latest job."

Nero grumbled and placed his hands on his hips. "Well that's new. Usually she's the first up here, drawn to the smell of your cooking like a shark drawn to blood-"

Almost as if on cue, the door to the kitchen violently slammed open, causing Yang, Zwei, Nero and everyone else to nearly jolt out of their skin and revealing the woman that stood in the doorway. Her black hair was frizzy and wild, making it a miracle that whatever was holding her ponytail together hadn't snapped. She had on provocative clothing which accentuated her tan, attractive figure, her attire consisting of an orange crop top that exposed a good amount of the tattoos inked across her. Her denim cutoffs were short as the shorts Yang used to wear in her earlier days at Beacon, showing off a lot of her legs. The glasses she had on gave her a bookish quality to her overall appearance, which, when combined with her cowgirl boots and the rest of her outfit, made her look like an accountant biker.

"Guess what? I figured out how goat boy's Devil Arm could go from sword to gun like that!" The woman spoke with an almost infectious enthusiasm, reminding Yang of how her sister would sometimes get, especially around seeing new weapons.

The woman paused to sniff the air. "Also, that smells damn good! Why didn't anyone tell me dinner was ready?"

Nero glared at the woman, then pinched his eyebrows.

"Damn it Nico, you nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Oh please," The woman smirked. "If your heart can take a jab from the Yamato, then I doubt a heart attack will do you in."

The strange woman noticed Yang. She blinked a couple of times, fixing her glasses as if she didn't believe what she was seeing.

Her eyes widened.

"Oh hey! Dorothy is awake!"

Yang jolted. Nero sighed. "Her name isn't Dorothy. It's Yang."

He turned to Yang. "Yang, this is Nico. She's my...rather _eccentric_ business partner."

Nico suddenly walked up to Yang, catching her off guard. The woman flashed a wide grin filled with pearly teeth and presented her hand.

"The full name is Nicoletta Goldstein. Granddaughter of the famous Nell Goldstein, the best gunsmith to have ever lived. Nice to meet ya."

Yang stared at the woman, then warily looked at her hand. Deciding not to be rude, she shook hands with Nico with her still human arm.

"Yang Xiao Long. Nice...nice to meet you too."

Nico removed her hand and tilted her head at Yang. She studied Yang from top to bottom, making the girl even more nervous around her. For some reason, she wasn't paying attention to the Devil Bringer, which was out for her to plainly see.

"Say, were you adopted?"

Nero slapped his forehead. "Nico, you don't ask people questions like that, especially within seconds of meeting them."

Nico shrugged. "Hey I'm just sayin', she doesn't look Chinese."

Yang paused for a moment. "Um...no, I'm not adopted. And I've been told that I don't look...Chinese. Whatever that is."

Yang's response drew a perplexed glare from Nico and the kids.

"What? How the heck do you not know what Chinese people are?"

"I don't know. We don't have those where I'm from," Yang responded. She wondered if Chinese people were like the world's equivalent of Faunus, though that couldn't be right. Nero just said there was only humans.

"Hey now," Kyrie intervened. "It's supper time and I won't have you all crowding the guest, especially since she probably hasn't eaten anything yet."

Nico scratched the back of her hair. "Right. Okay."

Zwei barked and ran up to the woman. Nico smiled and kneeled down to rub his head.

"Hey there Cereberus, how ya doin' boy?"

"His name is Zwei," Julio corrected.

"Zwei?" Nico shot a look at Julio. "Really? Y'know, I suppose that makes more sense, considerin' he has only one head instead of three."

Yang studied Nico as she walked past her to join the kids and Kyrie at the dinner table. She knew Ruby had some quirky eccentricities, but Nico was like those same eccentries but amplified and bottled up all into one person.

Yet, as weird as some of them were, especially Nico, she could not help but think of them as one big goofball family as they gathered around the table. A goofball family like the one she herself had. Seeing them brought thoughts of her cool yet alcoholic uncle, her fighter of a dad, her absent bandit of a mother and her weapon-loving sister.

She sighed. It's been only seconds since she awoke in a world away from Remnant, and she already missed them, except for her mother. She looked at Zwei, who glanced back with ears folded. He let out a soft whimper. She didn't speak canine, but could tell he was thinking the same thing. They had only each other as familiar faces in an unfamiliar world.

She wondered if she would ever find her way back.

Nero placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, you must be starving," The man smiled. "Help yourself. Kyrie always makes too much."

Nico glanced over at the two of them, talking with a mouth full of food. "And it's always delicious! You're missin' out."

They were right. Yang can mope and figure out the mess she was in later. She really was starving.

* * *

**RED GRAVE CITY - 10:45 PM**

Red Grave City had never truly recovered from the disaster that had struck it when the Qlipoth grew. It had become an abandoned husk, its buildings empty and looming over the ruined cityscape like large tombstones, making the whole place resemble one sprawling graveyard. Fossilized parts of the demon tree that had claimed the lives of so many could still be seen snaking through the hollowed out sections of the buildings like massive parasitic growths. There were some efforts to try and bring the city back to functioning status, but whatever could be done was already too little, too late. The few survivors that had managed to escape the city brought with them the nightmarish accounts of what had transpired as the demonic Qlipoth tree drained the lives of their friends, family and neighbors. The stories spread like wildlife, causing people to avoid the place as if it was cursed. The media only made things worse, forever damning the city to permanent ghost town status.

It was the city's emptiness that made it the perfect place for secret meetings.

A group of cloaked men stood on the roof of one of Red Grave's ruined skyscrapers. They wore military-like robes of white with gold finishes, their faces hidden in the shadows of their hoods. Around their belts were ornate swords housed in fine sheaths, their handles elaborate and containing what looked like motorcycle handles. Their clothes and weapons gave them away as former Holy Knights of the Order of the Sword, a group that has fallen from grace ever since their leader, the late Sanctus, tried to use the power of their religion's patron deity in an attempt to establish a new world order and was slain before he could achieve that dream. Lanterns were placed around them, providing the only source of light besides the stars and the moon.

One of the robed men paced around impatiently in front of the rest, taking constant looks at his golden watch.

"Damn it, where is she?"

As soon as the man voiced the question, a fluttering came from above. The men twisted their heads to the sky as a single black feather drifted down, landing at the impatient man's feet.

"Evening gentlemen…"

The men immediately turned and drew the swords clipped to their belts, raising them towards the source of the voice. A woman, sitting on the roof's ledge behind them. She had appeared suddenly like a phantom, her presence having went unnoticed by the squad of trained warriors.

"Put your swords away!" The impatient man chided. He brushed past the crowd, pushing down any raised swords along the way. "She's the person we're here to meet!"

One of the Knights turned to face the impatient man. "Person? She's a demon!"

The impatient man knew the Knight wasn't wrong, and one glance at her current form made that more than apparent. She was covered in feathers, as black as coal and granting her near perfect camouflage against the night. The parts of her that weren't covered in feathers, mostly around her neck, torso, and stomach, exposed the granite-grey leathery, lizard-like skin beneath. A bony mask covered the upper half of her face, shaped like the skull of a monstrous bird with a pronounced, sharpened sagittal crest and four slit-shaped glowing yellow eyes, its beak open to reveal her grey chin and very human, tender lips. Her hands and feet were scaly and had talons for nails, her legs bent like those of a dinosaur. A pair of dark seraphic wings were folded neatly against her back, their feathers as sharp as blades.

At the center of the woman's mask, between the eyes, was a red symbol enclosed in a circle. An elaborate rune of sorts, one of a clear demonic nature.

The impatient man cleared his throat.

"She's a demon, but one acting in our interests. So behave."

The men all traded glances with each other. They were still wary around the she-demon, and for a good reason, but eventually put their swords away.

The man turned to the demon. "You're the one the Weapon-Maker calls Caim, right?"

The she-demon, Caim, walked off the ledge and approached the Order Knights. Her form began to vanish, disappearing in a flurry of feathers to reveal a beautiful woman in a business suit, carrying a large suitcase in her hand. One that should have been heavy for someone of such slender build but looked light in her grasp. Her eyes held a reflective glare like the eyes of a nocturnal predator.

"Yes I am. And I presume you to be Damian, the Holy Knight?"

The man removed his hood. He was a middle aged man who was completely bald, his skinny face and beak-shaped nose giving him a vulture-esque appearance. His grey eyes held a constant scheming glint to them, one of them was hidden behind an eyepatch bearing the Order's trademark emblem of a horned axe intertwined with a sharp, bladed wing.

"I am. I also heard the Weapon-Maker wants to make a deal with the Devil Arms that we were interested in purchasing."

Caim presented the suitcase in front of Damian. On its lid was a mask with a single eye. A mask Damian recognized as the rumored face of the Weapon-Maker's true form. A form that few has ever seen and was said to send even the most vile of demons running. Although he didn't have a history or reputation yet like Mundus, Argosax or even the recently vanished Urizen, the Weapon-Maker was quickly making a name for himself as someone not to be trifled with but could make a powerful ally, especially when it came to the selling of black market Devil Arms.

"These are yours...at a discount. Half price."

Damian's looked up. His lips fluctuated into a grin. "Are you...serious?"

"Yes," Caim retracted the suitcase the moment Damian stepped forward with a hungry look in his eye. "But on one condition."

Damian's joy evaporated. His thin lips curled into a displeased scowl. He already didn't like making deals with demons, much less ones where the terms were constantly changing.

"And what would that condition be?"

Caim glanced to her side, to the decayed skyline of Red Grave.

"You plan to use these weapons to retake Fortuna and bring the Order to its former glory, no?"

Damian nodded. "Yes."

Caim returned her gaze to Damian. "And you plan on taking out Nero, the famous Devil Hunter, who hails from the city and is its most renowned citizen. Correct?"

Damian snarled. "That man is one of the reasons behind the Order's downfall, why me and my men are forced to cling to the shadows like vagrants! He's a traitor, as well as Fortuna's sole guardian! He's the greatest obstacle to our goals, and with him out of the way, the city is ours for the taking!"

He jabbed a finger at the briefcase. "And that's why we need those Devil Arms! Even though he is just one man, his reputation precedes him, and I've heard he has even more powerful allies! We need those weapons to even the playing field, to-"

Caim raised a hand to stop Damian from ranting further.

"My master hears your plea. Believe it or not, he is sympathetic to your cause. After all, there is no one else he reveres more than the legendary Sparda, your order's patron deity. The only ones that come close are perhaps his own father and teacher."

Caim's lips formed a slight smile. "Fortunately, our goals intertwine to an extent."

Damian's brow furrowed. "They do?"

"Yes," Caim replied. "You see Mr. Damian, there is a person currently with Nero, one who has something that is instrumental in my master achieving his dreams. A person we would like you to capture, when you finally decide to pursue your vendetta against the Devil Hunter."

"Oh?" Damian said with a curious tone. "Who is this person?"

"A girl. A teenager with blonde hair and eyes that can change from lilac to red, who is currently under the Devil Hunter's care."

Damian stroked his chin. "I see. If we promise to capture this girl, you will give us the weapons at the discount?"

Caim nodded. "Yes. We will give you the Devil Arms at half price if you can bring the girl to us. You can even consider her part of the payment."

Damian shot her a curious look. "This girl...beyond your claims that her eyes can change color, what is so special about her?

Caim smiled. "You will know when you see her."

With those last words, Caim gently set the briefcase down and walked towards the ledge of the roof. She glanced back over her shoulder towards the Order Knights.

"Consider this a test trial. Once the Devil Arms are to your gentlemen's liking, then we will accept payment to the usual account."

Her body disappeared in a swirling vortex of feathers as she resumed her demonic bird form. She jumped off the ledge and took flight with her wings, leaving black feathers in her wake that vanished into the blackness of the night.

Damian and his men stared at the briefcase. The seeds of plans most devious began to grow in their minds.

* * *

**MORRISON'S OFFICE**

J. D. Morrison mumbled with a cigar in his mouth and a cup of whiskey within easy reach.

On his desk was a severely outdated computer, the screen displaying an E-mail inbox crammed with far too many messages for a single man to filter through.

Ever since the incident at Red Grave, the world of demons had been brought into the spotlight. As a result, demon panic is at an all time high, and demands for Devil Hunters have never been greater. Morrison should be overjoyed that his business is seeing a boom as a result, if it weren't for the crap he had to sift through on a daily basis. For every genuine case that lands on his desk, there would be at least a dozen that were not. Most of them were either pranks or claims of big-foot like sightings of demons that ultimately turned out to be false. Even things like a family pet running away was construed as a demon kidnapping them given general paranoia and media frenzy.

Thankfully, Morrison had a method to the madness. He only cared for the cases brought to him by clients using the same password that his friend, arguably the greatest Devil Hunter to have ever lived, also used. Without the password, he would ignore the case, though that often backfired when the rejected client would continue bombarding his inbox until he's heard them out or rejected them. Those with the password he would set up a one-on-one meeting with in either his stuffy office or some other disclosed, preferably more comfortable location.

A password like the one given to him by a man that spoke over the phone just this afternoon. A man who he was eagerly waiting to meet within a few minutes.

On cue, a knocking on the door reached Morrison's ear.

"Come in," Morrison said in his thick accent.

The door slowly creaked open and the shadow of a man fell over Morrison and his desk. The broker looked up and saw a silhouette that made him pause.

_V?_

It was his first time seeing the man, and seeing him with a cane around his arm brought to mind of another man. The one who brought the Red Grave City case to him. The last case that his friend, Dante, went on before seemingly vanishing from the face of the Earth. Seeing that the legendary Devil Hunter was his best business partner, even though he struggled with paying his debts, the broker was wary around anyone that reminded him of V.

Only, upon a better look, the man wasn't V, with the only common link being the cane and nothing else. Though his details were hidden behind shadows, Morrison could see hints of a robust fighter's build, a contrast to V's slender figure. He wore a coat or suit of some kind, along with the distinct round dome of a bowler hat on his head. Beyond that, Morrison couldn't make out anything else.

Morrison leaned in his seat and put out his cigar on a nearby ashtray, staring into the man's unseen eyes.

"So...you're the guy that called about the job?"

The man nodded. He flashed a smile, his teeth so white it was visible past the shadows cloaking the rest of his appearance.

"Yes. Yes I am," The man paced around, staring at the rest of Morrison's office, his gaze hovering over the messy cabinets, and finally to a picture of him and Dante, along with a little girl with blonde hair named Patty, taken years ago. He inched closer to the picture.

"That's him right? The guy that's supposed to be the biggest, baddest Devil Hunter in the world?"

"He ain't here anymore pal," Morrison murmured rather sourly. "If you're lookin' for someone like Dante, then your shit out of luck. He's gone. Vanished like smoke and never came back."

The man tapped his cane in his hand and glanced over his shoulder. "That's a shame. But I guess I can settle for second best."

Morrison leaned on his desk. "I'm a busy man, so let's cut to the chase. You said you knew somethin' about the Devil Arms floodin' the black market?"

The man waltzed forward and helped himself to one of Morrison's chairs without asking.

"I do. And I've heard there's a Devil Hunter that's been trying to track the ones responsible."

Nero. The broker knew he was talking about Dante's protege and the man that he left in charge to uphold the Devil Hunter's legacy. The Fortuna native was proving to be living up to Dante's legacy, and without Dante, he was pretty much the man that Morrison trusted the most to handle anything demonic activity that he brought to his attention. To ape the man's words, he truly was second best.

And if Dante was really gone (God forbid), then that meant Nero was number one now.

"His name is Nero. And yes, he's been trying to find the guys responsible."

The man chuckled heartily. He tipped his hat. "Well that's good, because I know of the exact bastards responsible!"

The man initially held Morrison's interest, but now he had the broker's curiosity. He opened a word document on his computer, ready to take down notes on whatever the man was willing to tell him.

"Is that so? You got a name for em'?"

The man sighed and shook his head. His jovial nature turned stern.

"Unfortunately, I can't give too much away, or I'd be putting myself in significant danger. And I'm not about to risk my own ass."

The man raised his cane. "But, I can point you to the right direction."

He reached into his coat and pulled out a newspaper. He placed it on Morrison's desk and slid it towards him.

The broker eyed the headlines. It was about the disappearances on Dumary Island, also known as Vie de Marli, and the site of one of Dante's previous missions.

The creature rumored to be sighted by locals and blamed for the missing people had been on Morrison's radar for some time now. He had sent a few Devil Hunters on the island to confirm if the rumor was true, as well as working with a mutual friend of Dante's to see if the beast was real and can be taken care of. So far, they couldn't find anything. Either the beast was just a myth forged from the minds of panicked people or really damn good at hiding.

"The rumors of a wolf-like beast causing these disappearances? It isn't a rumor. I can assure you that beast is real."

Morrison raised an eyebrow at the man. "And how exactly do you know that?"

"It's complicated," The man leaned in his own chair and crossed his legs. "Let's just say I came from the same place as the beast."

Morrison tensed the moment he registered the man's words. He considered reaching for the gun that was taped beneath his desk, but the man stopped him by holding up his hand.

"Now now Mr. Morrison, before you decide to blast me out your office with the gun I no doubt you have beneath your desk, hear me out…"

"I don't know," Morrison whispered. "I usually don't listen to folks that admit they come from Hell."

The man looked at Morrison silently.

"Fair enough. I'd probably do the same. But I think you've misunderstood me. I'm not from the Demon World, and neither is the beast."

Morrison blinked. "Well shit, if you and the beast ain't from the Demon World, then where are you from?"

"A place far away from here," The man responded. "But I'm already telling too much I'm afraid."

He stood up from his seat and tapped the cane on the ground.

"Look Mr. Morrison, you wanted me to cut to the chase and I will. I want this Nero guy to track down the beast that's causing the disappearances. Only then will he gain the clues he needs to find out the masterminds behind those black market Devil Arms."

"I see," Morrison clasped his hands together. "Do you have the money to pay him? Devil Hunters don't work for free, at least the smart ones."

The man frowned. He reached into coat and plopped a handful of rolled up cash onto Morrison's desk. The broker was relieved that the money wasn't stained with blood like the payment that V handed him when they first met.

"Consider this an advance."

Morrison studied the money, then gazed up back at the man.

"Where'd you get this money from?"

The man gave a devilish smirk. "Do you really want to know?"

Morrison saw the money, then sighed. Even if the cash was gotten through unscrupulous means, he knew he would be doing Nero a disfavor by turning it down. Unlike Dante or himself, the man had kids to take care of, orphans even. If he denied the money, he didn't know if he could sleep at night knowing that it would've went to the care of children without families or homes. He hesitantly took the money and counted it, before filing it away when he deemed the funds were sufficient. He looked back up at the man.

"Fine. You have a deal. I will contact Nero as soon as he's available."

The man grinned. "Good."

He took his cane and turned towards the door.

"Before you go…"

The man stopped. He looked over to Morrison.

"Can I at least have your name?"

The man smiled once again.

"Let's just say...I'm a dead man walking."

With that, the man turned a corner and disappeared.

Morrison blinked. For a second, he could've sworn the man's shadow turned to the shape of a winged, horned creature with the head of a bird and the body of a lion.

He shook his head and tilted his back to eye the fan slowly spinning on his ceiling.

"Damn. I gotta stop drinkin'."

**Mission Complete**

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

One of the things I tried to do with this one is introduce Nero's family, which includes Kyrie and the kids he's adopted. Unfortunately, because all I had available was a summary translation of the Devil May Cry 5 Before the Nightmare novel that introduces the kids, I don't have details to go off of beyond the fact on which one was youngest and oldest. If someone somehow has read the fully translated novel and there are details inconsistent with how I described Julio, Kyle and Carlo, please let me know as I am curious myself.

I am also thinking of eventually changing this fic to a M rating. It's still pretty wholesome now, but given what I have for it and given Devil May Cry's nature as an M-rated game, I figure this is going to happen eventually.

Lastly, I really did not expect this fic to be as popular as it is. Thanks for all the people who decided to give this thing I wrote on a random whim a try and ended up adding it to their favorites! It really was a pleasant surprise! Please continue to leave feedback and comments! I may not get to all of them given stuff going on in my life right now, but they've been the light of my days as I toil away at work. I truly appreciate each and every one.

Best,  
Beef


	4. Mission 1-1: Assault on Fortuna (1)

**RWBY (c) Rooster Teeth**

**Devil May Cry (c) Capcom**

**Spoiler warnings for both RWBY (at least post-Volume 3) and Devil May Cry 5.**

* * *

**Mission 1.1: Assault on Fortuna (1)**

**FORTUNA BORDER - MORNING**

There was only one bridge that connected Fortuna to the rest of the civilized world. Known simply as Fortuna Bridge, it was remodeled after the collapse of the Order, the religious sect that formerly had its grip on every aspect of the city but was now a faint memory with an ever dwindling number of devotees. No longer bound by the Order's isolationist policies, the leaders of the castle town has begun efforts to slowly open their borders to foster trade and commerce with neighboring cities, though the populace were still generally wary of outsiders.

Outsiders, like the group of cloaked men lined across the bridge. At least the bridge security guard thought they were outsiders, until he recognized the Order robes they wore. Specifically, the robes of high ranking Knights that the man remembered as a child, back when the Knights would parade down the streets while shouting about the glory of Sparda.

That couldn't be right. The Knights should have been disbanded, the Order's upper echelon was no more.

The guard grumbled and stepped out of his booth. He didn't really care that they were wearing Order robes. All he cared about was the fact that they were standing in the middle of the bridge, blocking any cars that would have come.

"Can I help you folks?" The man murmured, tipping his uniform's cap.

The men said nothing, did nothing. They remained as still as marionettes as the wind ruffled their cloaks, which unnerved the guard.

"You guys speak English or what?"

Again, no response. The man eyed the men warily. He then took notice of the strange swords strapped around their belts, and his breath felt short. The sight of the Caliburns, the primary weapons of the Order Knights, would have caused him in his younger days to immediately bow in respect. That was before they were exposed as the fanatical terrorists they were, but that didn't change the fact that the swords were designed to slay the toughest of demons, while he was just one, very fragile human.

The guard swallowed. "H-hey...what's with those swords? You can't bring those in here!"

The hooded men all turned their heads towards him, causing the guard to freeze. His hand went to the gun strapped to his side, while the other went to the radio clipped to his belt.

He was stopped by one man walking out of the crowd. The man flicked back his hood, revealing the bald, crinkly, beak-nosed head beneath.

"What do you mean we can't bring our weapons in?" The man whispered. The guard studied him, and his eyepatch, which bore the Order's logo. He was a middle-aged gentleman, with vulture-like features. He eyed the guard with clear disdain, as he tapped the hilt of his own sword. "These blades have defended this city from the wretches of the Underworld for generations, since the days before you were born. And now you're saying they aren't allowed in?"

The guard swallowed once more. He cursed mentally. He wasn't getting paid enough for this gig.

"No weapons allowed into the city without a permit. Those are the rules pal."

The eyepatched man growled. "What foolishness."

He turned and paced back towards the others.

"We of the Order of the Sword used to _be_ the rules. Our authority was absolute. Looks like it's just as we feared...the city had truly had lost its way."

The sound of fluttering wings prompted the guard to look up. He froze, as he saw a sight which made him question if he was in a dream.

The sight of more robed men, flying overhead with angelic wings stretched from their backs, their shadows sliding across the bridge.

"But I guess now's the perfect time to bring the city back to its former glory."

The guard turned back to the man, only he wasn't a man anymore.

He was a demon, a horrid creature that was a mix between man, insect and angel. A demon with four massive white wings surrounding his shadow-smothered silhouette, his only exposed eye burning red like the embers of a dying flame.

He raised his arms, which he now had four of. Each of them shot forth two blades of green energy from the chitinous plates on their wrists. His single eye narrowed on the guard, who was on the verge of soiling his pants.

"The reclamation of the city begins now."

* * *

The city of Fortuna was grander than Yang had thought, the buildings appearing more magnificent during the day than at night as the sunlight reflected off the various cathedral-like rooftops and ornate stained glass windows. The skyline was already impressive from afar, but the scale was something to behold when standing on the streets, especially considering when every building was like a miniature castle. Probably why Nero called the place a "Castle Town of Fortuna".

The building directly in front of her stuck out like a sore thumb when compared to all the other buildings, being the only modern-looking structure around. It had a perfectly square, chic storefront and walls of tinted plexiglass bordered by art deco designs. The stores' name was displayed in hot pink cursive, spelling out "The Devil Wears Prada" with a neon forked tail trailing from the end of the "a".

She turned to Nero. The man wore the exact same coat since she first met him.

"Why are we here again?"

Nero returned Yang's gaze. "Kyrie requested I get you better clothes. She doesn't think her old Order robes are a good fit for you."

Yang glanced down at her current attire, the outfit loaned to her by Kyrie. A modest white traditional-looking dress with elaborate gold finishes and long sleeves that were puffy around the shoulders. It made her look almost like a nun, and she found the long skirt to be an obstacle to her movements, if she ever needed to run or throw down.

Zwei walked from behind Yang, letting out a soft bark to let the two know he was there. The dog was insistent on following Yang into the strange city, refusing to leave her side while they were trapped in this alien world.

"This is the only modern clothing shop in the whole city. And since I ain't the exact expert on girl's fashion, feel free to pick out whatever you want."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Anything?"

"Yup," Nero nodded. "Don't worry about payment. The owner of the shop owes me a favor after I got rid of the nasty Faust demon that was stealing his hats."

Yang had little idea on what Nero was talking about, which she began to see as a running theme. She presumed that this Faust thing was a sub-species of whatever demons were, in the same way a Beowulf or Ursa was a specific kind of Grimm.

"Well…" Yang raised her Devil Bringer. "You sure he won't freak out over this?"

Nero chuckled. "Years ago maybe. But now with the Order gone and everybody knowin' who I am, folks around here are much more receptive to the Devil Bringer."

Zwei barked again.

Nero nodded towards the canine. "Though he doesn't allow dogs in. Allergic to em'. So sorry Zwei, you're gonna have to stay out here buddy."

Zwei sat down. His ears flattened against his fluffy head as he let out a soft whimper. Yang kneeled and rubbed the top of the dog's head.

"It's alright boy. We'll be out soon."

She then walked out into the store, and then walked out thirty minutes later with Kyrie's old gown around her arm and clad in an outfit that was a better fit for who she was. Her new attire consisted of a stylish tan leather jacket with alternating tones and long coat-tails, an orange tank top beneath, fitted black pants with combat boots and an orange scarf around her neck, like the one she used to wear as a Beacon student. The sleeves of the jacket ended mid-arm, allowing her free movement of the Devil Bringer.

The outfit was something she could see herself wearing had she back on Remnant. She felt like herself, even with her demonic appendage.

Nero studied Yang. "Y'know, I thought you were goin' to get something...I dunno, _girlier_."

Yang placed her gloved hands on her hip. "I'm not that kind of girl."

She wagged her finger towards the sky. "So, can we talk about my predicament now?"

Nero sighed. "Yeah, I suppose we could, though I don't know how much help I'll be. I ain't exactly knowledgeable on interdimensional travel, and the only guy I knew who could even claim to be an expert on such a thing is trapped in another world himself."

"Wait, you know a guy that knows about interdimensional travel?"

"Family relation. Long story."

Yang could tell Nero wasn't willing to talk about whoever he was thinking of, so she didn't press it.

She looked to the people bustling through the scenic streets around her. People that looked like...well, ordinary people, despite being from another world. There were a few folks wearing hooded cloaks, which Nero explained as devout followers of the city's local religion.

"Can you at least tell me more about your world?"

Nero nodded. "I suppose I can do that."

He pointed with his thumb to the streets behind him. "There's a nice cafe down the block. Has the best espresso in town. We can talk there."

He turned and headed towards the cafe with his hands inside his pockets, without waiting for Yang to respond. Not that she really cared. A cup of espresso sounded good right about now.

"Come on Zwei, let's go."

The dog barked happily in response and walked to Yang's side. They both followed Nero, towards the cafe, which was only a few buildings down.

It was a small, cozy establishment, with traditional brick walls and an outdoor seating space with a colorful red and white umbrella over each of the round, cloth-covered tables and sectioned off by vibrant red guardrails. A series of large block letters hung over the storefront, spelling out "ESPRESSO EXPRESS", layered across a plastic steam engine belching out stylized steam. Quaint name for a quaint little cafe.

Thankfully, the cafe was more dog-friendly than the clothing store, and the trio managed to find a table outside which granted a great view of the streets, with Zwei finding a good spot under the table to take a nap. They ordered cups of espresso each, with Yang filling hers with more creamer than she normally would. She noticed that the money Nero used to pay for the drinks was something other than Remnant's universal currency of lien, but looked remarkably similar in that the money took the form of printed bills.

"So," Nero leaned in his chair. "You want to know more about my world?"

Yang took a sip of the espresso she ordered and gently placed the cup back down on its plate. "Yes. I would like that very much."

"Well, where to begin?" Nero snapped his fingers towards Yang, specifically at her new arm. "I suppose I should start with demons, and our relationship with the Demon World."

Yang was all ears. She had been looking forward to hearing more about demons and the so-called Demon World, after all the hints Nero have been dropping here and there on the subject.

"Demons, to put it simply, are monsters. Some are small, some are big. Some go down in a single shot, some are strong enough to level cities. A lot of em' are ugly and not nice. Some can even talk, and when they do, they like to _talk_ a lot. Mostly about how they'll break your bones or how they'll rule the world. Shit like that."

Yang had pictured demons as being similar to Grimm, but she couldn't imagine ones that talked or schemed on taking over the world. She thought Grimm was scary enough as is without the capacity for speech and world domination plots.

"Demons, as you can guess from the name, live in the Demon World, which some folks also call the Underworld or simply just Hell. Back in the past, the world of Demons and humans used to be connected through various means, namely through things like Hell Gates, gateways between our realm and theirs."

Nero balled and clasped his hands together.

"And it was through these connections that allowed a really, _really_ scary guy by the name of Mundus to come to our world in an attempt to take it over."

"Mundus?" Yang repeated.

"A very powerful demon king. He and his forces tried to take over the human world, but failed," Nero smiled with a twinkle in his eye. "All because of a guy called Sparda."

The name triggered Yang's thoughts to snap back to her encounter with the stranger. His words echoed through her mind.

"_No one in this world knows who the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda is. Shame really, since he could single-handedly end the war between the Grimm and your kind if he didn't kick the bucket."_

Yang was about to mention to Nero that the stranger knew who Sparda was, but decided to hold that tidbit of info back. Not until she learned more about who he was.

"This Sparda...was he a great warrior?"

"One of the best," Nero swirled the spoon inside his espresso cup. "And the kicker? He was Mundus's own champion."

Yang blinked. "Wait...but doesn't that mean…"

"Yup. Sparda was a demon. Crazy thought right? A hero who is a demon. But Sparda wasn't like the other demons you see. He gained a human heart. Woke up to justice and all that jazz. He took up his sword against his fellow demons, all for the sake of humanity, and didn't get anything out of it except for a target painted on his back by his own kind."

Coming from Remnant, a place of heroes and monsters, Yang was always used to having a clear line drawn between the two. No one would argue that the Grimm weren't evil and the Huntsman and Huntresses that fought them weren't good. She's never heard of the hero and the monster being one in the same, even in stories.

"A demon, who's a hero?" Yang lightly chuckled. "Sounds like a fairy tale."

"Oh, but he isn't a fairy tale," Nero said with a twinkle in his eye. "Sparda really existed, and there's living proof. You see, he fell in love with a human woman, even had two kids with her if you can believe it. Twin brothers that carry on his power and legacy, in their own ways."

"A demon? Having kids with a woman?" Yang stuck her tongue out. She fought hard to push the image of a Grimm-like beast having offspring with a human woman out of her mind. "Gross."

"Hey hey hey, show some respect. I happen to know them, and they're cool dudes," Nero stared off into space. "Well, at least one of them is."

Yang took a pause. "Hang on. You've met them?"

Nero smirked. "One of them is my uncle, and the other is my father."

Yang's expression became temporarily blank as the words sifted through the folds of her brain.

"You're kidding right?"

Nero shook his head. "Wish I was. Frankly, being one of Sparda's blood descendants is more trouble than its worth, even if all the demon powers that come with it are pretty nifty."

Yang glanced at her arm, then looked back at Nero under a new light.

"Julio...he said you were part demon. I thought he was kidding, but he wasn't, was he?"

"Afraid not," Nero pointed to the Devil Bringer. "I did say that arm used to belong to me, didn't I?"

Yang flexed the armed fingers of the Devil Bringer.

"It's kinda hard to tell, considering you look like...y'know…a normal person."

Nero grinned. "As opposed to a big horned guy with wings? I prefer it that way. I can't even imagine how Kyrie would react to my demon form."

Before Yang could say anything...and she _really_ wanted to say something...Nero asked her a question.

"So, I told you what's up with my world. How about you tell me a bit about yours? The place with the broken moon."

Yang stared at Nero. "You...want to know more about Remnant?"

"I think its only fair."

The former Beacon student didn't realize how hard it was to answer the man's question, until she realized just how much there was to tell. Being a native of that world, she realized that a lot of things she took for granted was probably foreign to the man. It was like trying to cram the entire history of the world in a short minutes-long conversation.

Though there was an obvious starting point. Just as Nero began his lecture on his world with demons, she supposed she should start with the Grimm.

"My world has monsters too. We call them Grimm. Bloodthirsty monsters drawn to negative emotions, driven to kill anyone and anything that crosses paths with them."

Nero rubbed his chin. "Sounds a lot like demons. At least the lesser ones."

"Yeah, though they have no souls. They're mostly dumb too, no smarter than animals. I have yet to meet one that could talk like the demons you described. I also doubt any of em' have the conscience or brain power to 'wake up to justice' or fall in love with a human woman to produce half-Grimm offspring, which I am fairly certain is both biologically impossible and absolutely disgusting."

Yang brought her knuckles together. "Those who fight the Grimm are known as Huntsman or Huntresses. They use a special power known as Aura in battle, and are trained in special academies to be monster-slaying warriors."

She heaved out a sigh. "I was training to become one, before…"

Her voice trailed off as she recalled the masked face of the man who took her arm.

"...before I dropped out."

She looked up to meet Nero's gaze.

"You know, these Huntsman guys sound a lot like Devil Hunters, only with an official education."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Devil Hunters?"

"People that are hired to hunt demons. I'm one of them."

"Oh," Yang remarked. So Nero _was_ a Huntsman...of a sort. Or at least he was his world's closest equivalent of one. The more she learned about the differences between her world and Nero's, the more she began to see eerie similarities.

"Anyways, you mentioned a special power called Aura. I'm curious about what that is exactly."

"It's a shield created by one's soul. It's what allows Huntsman and Huntresses to deal with blows that would usually would be fatal. Like a gunshot or a swipe from the claw of a Grimm. Along with that, if you focus enough, you unlock what is called a Semblance, or a special superpower born from your Aura that is unique to you and only you."

Nero grinned. "Heh. Sounds a lot like demonic energy."

Yang furrowed her brow. "A-what energy?"

"Demonic energy. It's the power inside demons that give them their abilities. This Aura stuff sounds similar, though for humans instead of demons."

"And Faunus."

Now it was Nero's turn to fold his brow. "And what?"

Yang glanced around to the people walking around them. She had yet to see a single Faunus or Faunus-like person in Nero's world. She now had an idea why Nero referred to his world only as the _Human_ World.

"They're people...only with the traits of animals. One of my best friends is one. She has cat ears."

She saw the disbelieving look Nero gave her. She cleared her throat.

"I'm assuming you guys don't have Faunus in your world."

Nero lightly shook his head. "No. But we do have human/demon hybrids, and human-turned demons. I guess that's close enough."

"Um, that doesn't sound close," Yang replied, thinking of Blake, Sun, Velvet and every other Faunus she's ever met, mentally comparing them to the image she had in her head of the demons Nero described. "Like at all."

"Hey, it's the closest thing I could think of to half-human anything in this world," Nero wiggled his own ears. "Sure, I don't have cat ears, but I can't exactly find the idea of part-animal people too out of the ordinary considering what I am. It ain't the craziest shit I've heard of."

The Devil Hunter then pointed towards the sky. "Though I still can't wrap my head around a moon that's broken. What's the story with that?"

"Beats me," Yang shrugged. "Never thought much of it really. I always assumed the moon was as is. It wasn't until saw the moon of your world that night that I began to question it-"

She fell short, as she felt a tingling in her arm. The yellow veins of her Devil Bringer began to pulsate and flash, as if reacting to something nearby.

"Um...is it supposed to do that?

Nero expression fell flat. He eyed the glowing Devil Bringer with clear concern, and that in turn made Yang concerned.

"Oh shit."

That was when the screaming began. Yang tore her gaze away from her arm towards the crowds of people running down the streets. They were thrown into a frenzied panic, some tripping onto the ground and stepping over others, running in one chaotic herd like prey animals fleeing from a predator.

"Nero, what the hell is going on?"

Nero didn't respond. He turned his head silently to the space across the street, where Yang saw something that made her go still. A row of hooded figures in matching white, grey and gold uniforms, standing silently like statues as frightened people skittered away from them, some fumbling and falling in order to do so. It was only when the crowd fully dispersed that Yang saw the large, ornate swords clipped to their belts, their deadly edges reflecting the sun's light. Their faces were completely hidden in the shadows of their cowls.

Zwei poked his head out from under the table curtains, drawn out by the commotion. The instant he caught sight of the hooded men, he began to growl at them, the same way he had growled at the stranger.

"Nero..." Yang whispered as soft as she could. "Who are those guys?"

Again, Nero said nothing. He jumped over the railing that encircled the cafe's seating area and landed on his feet. He flicked the ends of his coat and walked towards the men. Yang could have sworn she saw a glimpse of a weapon tucked near his waist.

"Well, well, well. Never thought I'd see you fellas again!" Nero chuckled. He fanned his arms out. "Guess you guys didn't get the memo. Sanctus is dead. Didn't even have a body to bury after I was through with him. So no need to put on the big scary religious fanatic act now."

The men suddenly shifted in near perfect unison, assuming a combat stance as their hands went to the handles of their blades.

Yang tensed. She clenched the sides of her seat. "Hey uh, Nero. I don't think they like whatever you just said to them."

Nero's joking demeanor vanished. He steeled his gaze towards Yang, as Zwei let out a threatening bark in the background. "You two get out of here."

Yang looked into Nero's stern eyes, then back at the hooded figures. She had no idea why, but the men were giving her bigger chills than the Grimm ever could.

They reminded her of the stranger.

"Nero...who are they?"

"Damn it," Nero hissed. "Just get out of here! Now!"

Yang would have, except she couldn't. The heat in her arm spiked, right as a dark shadow flew over the group.

A voice boomed down from above.

"She's not going anywhere, traitor."

All three heads turned towards the sky, right as a creature descended from it. A creature whose appearance caused Yang's breath to get stuck in her throat mid-gasp.

To describe him as a demon would have been inaccurate, for his massive wings, of which he had four, were as beautiful as those of the most divine seraphim, their feathers virgin white with tips of gold. And yet, Yang couldn't call him an angel either, for the rest of him was completely monstrous. His body was covered in a chitinous exoskeleton, his shoulders, wrists and legs covered in rows of tiny spines like a Grimm's. His four arms were clawed and armored, his feet containing curved hooks for toenails. His head was like a cross between the head of a locust and a human skull, with a pair of long antenna that trailed across the dome of his armored scalp, their ends surrounded by twin glowing halos of golden energy. He only had one eye which glowed red like the sun, while the other was covered by a plate of bone bearing an unfamiliar symbol.

The creature looked more horrific than any Grimm, and it only shocked Yang further when he began to speak. Without opening his mouth.

"Long time no see, Nero," The creature said with disdain. His voice, marked by a demonic echo, did not come from his throat. Instead, he was talking telepathically, which only made him all the more imposing and further separated him from the realm of Grimm.

"Sorry pal, do I know you?" Nero said, in a remarkably relaxed tone despite being in the creature's unnerving presence.

The creature growled. He floated towards the ground where he landed gently in front of the hooded men. A golden light enveloped his body, before disappearing to reveal the bald man that now stood in his place. He was several heads shorter than his other form and had an eyepatch over the eye that had been missing in his monstrous state. He wore robes that were of similar design with the other men, and had the same type of sword sheathed by his side.

"Oh come on, Devil Hunter," The man spoke, his voice like the monster's only without the inhuman element, though a degree more slimy. "How can you forget me? Damian?"

**-VILLAINOUS ARCHANGEL: DAMIAN, THE RIGHTEOUS-**

"Damian?" Nero tapped his chin. "Oh yeah, I remember you know. You're the bigshot Knight that even Credo couldn't stand. The guy who ran with his tail tucked between his skirt right after I kicked Sanctus's ass to Hell where he belonged."

Yang had to stifle a laugh, which she knew was wholly inappropriate given the tense situation they were all in.

The man, Damian, did not appreciate Nero's remark judging from his displeased face. He scowled harder, the wrinkles around his brow and chin becoming more prominent, making him somehow less attractive than his monster form was.

"Let me guess, you're here to take revenge on Sanctus's behalf, is that it?" Nero scoffed and tapped his chest. "Against me?"

"No," Damian growled. "We're not here for Sanctus."

He placed his hands behind his back and began to pace like an Atlesian general would.

"We're here on behalf of the city! We're here to save Fortuna's soul, to bring her denizens back onto the righteous path!"

Nero crossed his arms, unintimidated by the man's sweeping gestures nor the armed men behind him. "If by the righteous path, you mean trying to take over the world to establish a new world order..."

He casually reached into his coat and pulled out a gun. A hefty silver magnum revolver with two barrels, one over the other, both of which he leveled at Damian's chest.

"...then I'm going to have to stop you there buddy."

Yang's instincts kicked in. She quickly grabbed Zwei from under the table and inched towards the exit. She stopped dead in her tracks the instant Damian shifted his gaze at her, freezing her in place like a deer caught in headlights. He narrowed his eye.

"There are other reasons we're here," Damian turned to Nero, unintimidated by his weapon. "The first is to kill you, the man who stands in the way of Fortuna's salvation."

He then pointed towards Yang.

"And the second is the girl. We're here to take her."

Yang's eyes went wide.

_What the hell, these guys are here for me? I don't even know them! What do they want from me? _

Damian looked towards Yang's direction again. His eyes drifted towards her Devil Bringer. The corners of his lips curled.

"I can see why the Weapon-Maker is looking for her now. It's because of that accursed arm of hers."

Yang sighed.

_Alright never mind. That was obvious. _

She cursed under her breath. First the stranger and now some transforming holier-than-thou asshole and his army of sword-wielding goons. The arm was proving to be a magnet for trouble.

"The Weapon-Maker?" Nero's eyes visibly lit up upon hearing the name. "You know that guy?"

Damian flashed a wide, greasy smile that made Yang feel like her own skin was greasy.

"But of course. He's a help to our cause."

Nero shook his head. "As if turning yourselves into demons wasn't enough, you bastards are actually actively working with demons now. You guys are bigger hypocrites than Sanctus."

"The ends justify the means," Damian murmured.

Nero cocked the hammer. Yang's knowledge of conventional firearms was limited, but she knew from a lecture held by Professor Port that the needless cocking of a gun before firing was a useless tactic and did nothing to help with the functionality of the weapon. The Devil Hunter must be doing it purposefully for intimidation, and it wasn't working. Damian clearly still looked like he had control of the situation, which was a given since he and his men outnumbered Nero at least a dozen to one.

"So what does the Weapon-Maker want with Yang? And the Devil Bringer?"

Damian shrugged. "That, I have no clue. But he's offering her as a down payment on the Devil Arm we purchased, so I can't exactly refuse his request to capture her."

"Devil Arm?" Nero flexed a brow. "What Devil Arm?"

Damian grinned. He snapped his fingers.

A large steel arm crashed through the building behind him, causing his men to disperse as chunks of concrete and glass rained down onto the street. The entire building eventually shattered apart, as a metal mass lumbered through it, its gigantic clawed legs shaking the ground with every step.

Yang's eyes stretched wider than before.

_Is...is that a goddamn Atlesian mech!?_

On a second look, Yang realized it wasn't. It was _bigger_ than even the most advanced versions of an Atlesian Paladin-290, and had a much more grotesque, ferocious look. Whereas Atlesian mechs had a smooth, streamlined design and light coloring, the thing standing behind Damian looked almost partially organic, with dark obsidian insectoid plates connected by large fleshy wires, its back giving rise to javelin-like spikes that sparkled with red electricity. Its arms were blocky and mechanical unlike its body, bearing claws shaped like oversized bear-traps. Its cockpit area was covered by a round dome that gave rise to curving, demonic horns around its sides, slightly translucent to display the pulsating red core beneath.

And unlike Atlesian mechs, the thing had _teeth._ Literally. As in it had an entire mouth beneath the cockpit, lined with perfectly interlocking razor teeth made of metal instead of enamel.

Zwei barked angrily at the thing, but Yang was too scared to move. She was used to fighting large monsters and even mechs, but she could _see _the dark energy blowing from the thing, forming a shadowy aura around it. It was causing the Devil Bringer to go haywire.

The mech's teeth parted slightly, letting loose a stream of steam that caused the ends of Damian's robes to flutter. The man pointed his thumb towards the mech, if it could even be called such a thing at all.

"_That_ Devil Arm."

**-TAINTED KILLING MACHINE: GILGAMESH-PALADIN 666-**

Damian looked towards the mech."Kind of hard to believe that thing fit in a suitcase."

Nero tilted his head at the mech. Instead of looking terrified, he seemed more curious than anything. He shook his gun towards it.

"That thing is a Devil Arm? Looks like an entire demon to me."

"Fool," Damian grumbled. "That thing is entirely machine, powered by demonic energy and forged from rare Gilgamesh metal native only to the deepest, darkest parts of the Underworld!

He held up his arm, showing off a black, cybernetic gauntlet closing around his arm, covered in patterns of red. "And it's in my full control."

The man clenched his fist, and the demonic mech waltzed forward, leaving craters everywhere it stepped. It raised its arms and pointed them towards Nero, the jaws on its arms opening back to reveal the plethora of gun barrels hidden within, making his revolver look like a toy in comparison. Lines of red light spilled from the mech's hands, forming dots on Nero's head and body.

Yang expected Nero to be at least shaking a little bit as the mech's shadow fell over him. Instead, he just casually bounced the revolver on his shoulder and sighed.

"Y'know, I really wished I had brought Red Queen with me. Or at least a Devil Breaker or two."

He looked the mech in its toothy cockpit, and _smiled_.

"But I guess I'm gonna have to make do."

What happened next was nearly too quick for Yang to have followed.

One moment, the mech was standing over Nero, about to blast him into a crater. The next, the very air split around them as the mech was sent flying into the building it had crashed from, flattening whatever remained of it as it toppled over onto its back.

Yang fell silent. Even Zwei stopped barking.

"Holy crap."

Behind Nero was a pair of arms, one of them clenched into a fist leveled straight to where the mech had been. They weren't human, made of a ghostly blue energy and connected to strange, feathery wings that grew out of Nero's back, phasing through his clothes. The sight of the arms reminded Yang of the one she saw grow out of the Devil Bringer, the one she used to give the stranger a punch that took out a good chunk of forest around him, sans wings.

The arms cracked their knuckles.

"Hey kid," Nero turned to Yang. "Stop gawking and run!"

Yang looked towards the mech. It began to rise from the wreckage. She didn't need to be told twice. Holding Zwei tight, she bolted towards the cafe, but not before catching a glimpse of Nero throwing himself against the mech.

She can hear Damian shout after her as she charged through the door, along with the flapping of wings.

"_Don't just stand there! Get her you idiots!_"

Once inside, Yang ran between the tables, nearly knocking a few over as the whole place rattled. Dust drifted from the ceiling. Cups and plates slid off from the tables, shattering on the floor. There was no one else in sight, presumably because everyone else had the brains to have evacuated the area long before things went south.

_This is crazy. Totally crazy! One minute we're talking about demons. And the next there's a bunch of weirdos, a winged monster that can turn into a one-eyed bald guy, and a giant monster mech with teeth! _

The roof suddenly collapsed in front of her, causing her to stop. Two figures descended down along with the dust, landing on a table, shattering the dishware beneath the heels of their sturdy boots.

As they rose, Yang saw that they were members of Damian's men. She could see glimpses of their scowls beneath the shadows of their hoods.

Zwei snarled in her arms as she backed away slowly, before she ran up against a table.

The men removed their hoods, and Yang saw their faces for the first time. She wished she hadn't.

They were completely hairless, lacking even eyebrows. Their skin was the color of coal, covered in bright red veins that were like miniature rivers of lava. Their eyes were completely orange and pupiless, filled with a faint light as they narrowed on Yang. They were like the eyes of the Grimm.

Pairs of bright white wings burst forth from their backs, their feathers catching the sunlight seeping through the hole they made on the roof. They flashed their teeth, revealing how sharp they were, before unsheathing their swords.

-**DISGRACED SERAPHIM: ASCENDED ORDER KNIGHT-**

Yang cursed under her breath.

_Great. Just great. They're monsters too! And they have freakin' swords! _

She turned towards the door she came from. It shook from the cacophony of the battle taking place just outside. There was no escape.

She looked back at the angelic monsters. Her fear turned into a tranquil fury. She gritted her teeth and let Zwei drop from her arms, the canine landing on his paws with the nimbleness of a cat. She cracked her knuckles at the two winged demons as Zwei stood his ground next to her, letting out a defiant bark towards the creatures.

She steeled herself, reminding herself that she wasn't a damsel in distress. She _was_ the distress. And she wasn't about to go without giving the winged bastards one hell of a fight.

"I don't know what you guys are," Yang balled her hands into fists. "But I've fought bigger...and scarier things than a bunch of _pigeons_ in silly outfits."

She flicked the clawed fingers of her Devil Bringer in a sign of open challenge.

The demons traded glances with each other. Then they roared and jumped off the table, gliding towards Yang with swords raised.

* * *

**DUMARY ISLAND - NIGHT**

Nothing walked quietly through the dark alleyway, his clawed hands sheathed in the pockets of his trenchcoat. He kept his hat low so the light wouldn't remove the shadows hiding his cadaverous face.

He sniffed the air, despite having no nose, save for a pair of empty, fleshless nasal cavities like those of a skull. Even so, he caught a whiff of blood, just across the street in a parallel alleyway.

Human blood.

"Shit…"

His wings appeared and he glided over the road, moving like a ghost. He landed lightly, the only sound he made was from the clicking of the spurs on his cowboy boots. His shadow washed upon the mangled body of a female in her early twenties. A woman once pretty, whose body was now mutilated beyond recognition. The unfinished carcass of a predator's fresh kill.

Nothing sighed. He tilted the brim of his hat further down in a rather solemn gesture for a demon, then kneeled. He ran a finger across the cooled blood that surrounded the corpse, then brought it towards his black tongue. It tasted fresh.

He stood back up and wiped his finger with his handkerchief, before letting it drop over whatever remained of the woman's face. He looked to the side and saw a series of large claw marks made across the brick wall of the building that flanked the alley. The parts of brick around the claw marks were clearly scorched.

_Marchosias. He was here. That damn Beowulf cub is gettin' sloppier, leavin' all these damn bodies for folks to find._

The demon took one last glance at the woman's corpse, then walked to the mouth of the alley. He looked to the full moon hanging overhead, a reminder that there were more worlds beyond the one he was birthland.

Nothing yawned.

_I'm tired. _

The demon proceeded to walk down the street, clearly aware of the lone female figure who has been spying on him from above, but purposefully choosing to ignore her. Even if he could sense that she wasn't quite human.

He simply didn't care.

He was, as Caim was always eager to point out, a pretty apathetic fellow.

**MISSION COMPLETE**

* * *

**Author's Notes: **

Another chapter bites the dust.

In other news, I finally landed a new job! One with guaranteed less insane hours than the job I was previously in. I won't promise it still won't get busy, but I am hopeful that I can now commit to a less erratic upload schedule.

I also went back and made some minor house-keeping edits, such as grammar fixes here and there. I also tweaked some descriptions in the prior chapters, summarized as the following:

-Nothing's description plays up more of his demonic gunslinger image, complete with spurs on his boots.

-Caim and Marchosias's eyes are now yellow, with some additional tweaks and details about Caim's design that I didn't manage to include in the initial draft of the chapters.

Other than that, there wasn't any changes, especially to the story.

As for this chapter in particular, I was waiting for this one, if only for the chance to write some of those cheesy enemy intro lines you see from Devil May Cry 5. The enemies introduced in this chapter are also a reference to Devil May Cry 4, with the Ascended Knights modeled after one of the unmasked Order dudes that Dante takes down in the intro. The Gilgamesh-Paladin is self explanatory.

Yang's outfit is also a mix and match of both her volumes 1-3 outfit and her volume 4-6 outfit. Basically, its just her Beacon outfit without the shorts.

Anyways, hope you guys enjoy! I certainly tried to ramp up the action in this chapter.

As always, constructive feedback is always appreciated.

Best,  
Beef


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